NSW residents have been offered little reprieve from torrential rain with flood warnings renewed.
The newest deluge has prompted the alarm to be raised for people in the Hawkesbury and Nepean Valley, west of Sydney on Sunday.
“Heavy rainfall last night and this morning has caused renewed rise in the Colo River. Major flooding is possible at Putty Road reaching the major flood level (10.70 m) Sunday evening,” The State Emergency Services Hawkesbury Unit warned.
“Further rises are possible. Currently the Colo River is rising at 1.6m per hour (at 07:30).”
The Bureau of Meteorology warned the city had been hit with “thundery rain” that was particularly focused in the western suburbs.
“The focus of the heaviest rainfall, and rivers at greatest risk, are those extending from greater Sydney to the Hunter and Manning Rivers, where moderate to major flooding is possible,” the bureau’s flood watch said.
“The weather system may also cause minor to moderate flooding along coastal rivers from the Bellinger to Myall Rivers along the NSW Mid North Coast. Minor to moderate flooding is possible along the NSW South Coast from the Illawarra to Bega.”
Heavy rain is expected to cover the region from Sydney across the Illawarra and down towards Canberra.
The warning also extends to parts of Sydney and the Hunter, Central Tablelands and Southern Tablelands and the South Coast.
However, rain conditions are expected to somewhat ease in northern parts of the warning area by Sunday afternoon before increasing in the south from the evening.
In the north of the state, a mammoth 1086mm of rain fell at Uki, 50km northwest of Byron Bay, with 933mm registered in nearby Kunghur.
