NSW could be hit with dangerous and “life-threatening” flash flooding in the coming days, with residents being told to prepare for more “extreme” conditions after the state’s flood crisis claimed a fourth life.
The dangerous weather system which has inundated the Northern Rivers region is moving south, with torrential rain expected to cause flooding in parts of Sydney over the coming days.
A severe weather warning is in place for heavy rain and high winds along the NSW coast from Newcastle to Bega, which could cause widespread damage.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast heavy rainfall for parts of Sydney and the Hunter, Illawarra, south coast, as well as parts of the Central and Southern Tablelands districts on Wednesday.
Six-hourly rainfall totals between 80 and 120mm are likely, while some areas could record up to 200mm of rain in a six-hour period, with the possibility of life-threatening flash flooding.
Bureau meteorologist Dean Narramore said the biggest concern was Thursday morning, with severe weather warnings issued for heavy rainfall and damaging winds.
The warnings extend from the mid-north coast all the way towards the couth coast.
“We could see hit and miss severe thunderstorms bringing heavy rain, damaging winds and possibly even large hail,” he told media on Wednesday.
“While it won’t be widespread and everywhere, isolated communities and those currently recovering from the flooding could have impact there as well. Heavy rainfall associated with these storms will likely lead to renewed river, creek and stream rises as well as already saturated soils and catchments.”
Mr Narramore said Newcastle, the Central Coast, Sydney and Wollongong would be hit hard.
The rain will also extend inland to the Blue Mountains.
“We could see widespread 50-100mm in this part of the world, with isolated totals in excess of 200m,” he said.
“These totals will likely, particularly around the 200mm mark, lead to life-threatening and dangerous flash flooding.”
The weather bureau expects the rain to travel further south past Sydney by the end of the week.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet warned “the worst is yet to come” after the Northern Rivers on Monday experienced its wettest day in 139 years.
More than 15,000 people were evacuated during the crisis and hundreds more rescued, some of whom were winched from the roofs of homes or picked up by volunteers on boats.
Fifty-five hospital patients in the nearby town of Ballina were evacuated and taken to a makeshift emergency facility at a nearby school, as residents prepared for a one-in-500-year flood.
NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole revealed another body had been found in Lismore on Wednesday, while further deaths are likely.
The body of a man was found in the main street of Lismore and follows the discovery of two women, both in their 80s, who were found in their homes on Tuesday.
There are three deaths in the Lismore area, but the total death toll of four includes a Central Coast man who was found in his car last week.
“We know in realistic terms we may see more loss of life over the coming days,” Mr Toole said.
“This is a catastrophic event.”
Police who were on a boat in northern NSW heard a faint noise coming from inside a home, prompting an officer to dive through a flooded window.
The officer found a 93-year-old woman 20cm from the roof.
“That police officer got a boogie board and was able to take that 93-year-old woman out of the flooded window and ensure that she got to safety,” Mr Toole said.
SES officers are doing door-to-door checks and rescue missions in Lismore as more fatalities are expected.
NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said the emergency service was working with police to find anyone trapped in their homes.
“There are still evacuation orders in place and I will remind the community it is dangerous to go into that area until we declare it,” Ms York said.
“We are also starting where waters have slowly receded into doing damage assessments, making sure we can declare those houses safe and try and let the community and business owners back into those premises as soon as possible.”
Ms York is urging residents living along the Hawkesbury and Georges rivers to review their evacuation routes.
She warned roads were being cut off throughout the day.
“What we don’t want to do is lose any more lives,” she said.
“It is life threatening and we want to make sure the community heed those messages.”
Ms York said the best way to save lives was to be prepared and listen to warnings.
She urged people not to drive through floodwaters as there could be debris or other things under the water.
NSW education secretary Georgina Harrisson said nearly 200 schools were closed due to the floods.
“It’s 130 government schools, 28 independent and 21 Catholic schools, as far as we’re aware at the moment,” she told a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday morning.
“We also have a number of schools operating as evacuation centres … so obviously there is disruption in those schools as well.”
Premier Perrottet and Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke travelled north from Sydney to visit flood-stricken communities on the north coast on Wednesday.
The pair were due to give a press conference later in the afternoon from an SES centre in Grafton.
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Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds said more than 145,000 claims for emergency financial assistance had been made since the flooding disaster began in southeast Queensland last week.
She said 35,000 of those claims had been paid so far and that an unprecedented 90,000 requests were made in a single day on Tuesday.
Senator Reynolds said people could apply and “get the money straight away” even if they didn’t have their identification documents on them.
“We’ll worry about the paperwork later,” shexjmtzyw told the ABC on Wednesday.
Senator Reynolds said Services Australia staff would visit 11 evacuation centres in Queensland from Wednesday to help people without internet access to apply for the emergency payment worth $1000.
She said government staff would visit NSW evacuation centres to help people who were sheltering there as soon as it was safe to do so.
“Ninety-five per cent of 145,000 claims that have already been received have been done online. We’re getting people out as soon as possible into evacuation centres to provide that support,” she said.
“We are out there as soon as we can. But in this early stage of the disaster it’s still not safe and it’s still not accessible to some communities.”
