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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Elias Visontay

Warragamba Dam overflowing as 'mini tornado' rips through western Sydney suburb – as it happened

What's happened so far today

Here’s a quick recap of what’s happened today. We’ll be pausing this blog for a short while, ahead of further developments later today.

  • Sydney’s Warragamba Damn has spilled over, with the water now flowing into other waterflows in the city.
  • There are warnings for major flooding across western Sydney as a result, with areas around Penrith, North Richmond, Wallacia and Sackville of particular concern.
  • Port Macquarie, Taree, Macksville and Kempsey are among towns on NSW’s mid north coast where evacuation orders have been made for low-lying areas. The Pacific Highway, and other major roads, have been closed in some parts.
  • The State Emergency Service has carried out more than 500 rescues, and responded to more than 4,000 calls for assistance as of Saturday afternoon, with the NSW emergency services minister, David Elliott, urging residents to follow safety warnings and not to drive or walk into flooded areas.
  • Intense rain and wind triggered a weather event authorities have described as a “mini-tornado” that ripped through three streets in Chester Hill in Sydney’s west, damaging more than 30 homes and leaving 1,000 without power.
  • The weather is so intense that the federal Department of Health has warned that coronavirus vaccine delivery across the state will be hampered by the floods and road closures.
  • The dangerous weather is set to continue, with a new band of rain heading for NSW expected to push rainfall totals in some places to one metre in the space of just a week.

Updated

It’s a sad time in parts of the NSW north coast.

Updated

Footage from Port Macquarie.

Channel Nine is also reporting children having to spend the night in their school due to the floods.

Updated

Sandbags being distributed in Penrith. There are fears the spilling over of Warragamba Dam could lead to more flooding around Penrith.

SES volunteers at Penrith SES making and providing free sandbags to residents
SES volunteers at Penrith SES making and providing free sandbags to residents. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Updated

Floods to impact Covid vaccine delivery

The Department of Health has warned the extreme weather and flooding is so severe that it will affect the distribution of coronavirus vaccines in New South Wales.

Regional towns in NSW will be particularly affected.

A department spokeswoman told the Guardian:

Vaccines are being delivered across the country and will be in place in most locations by the end of the weekend.

Due to extreme weather conditions and flooding in many parts of NSW, vaccine delivery is being affected in Sydney and across multiple regional NSW locations.

The Department of Health is working directly with GPs on these issues and we ask for the public’s patience and understanding with these unforeseen supply delays.

Phase 1b of the rollout is set to begin on Monday, and the first locally produced batches of the AstraZeneca jab are expected to be delivered from Melbourne around the country early next week.

You can read more about regional access to the start of the phase 1b rollout here:

Updated

Updated

Sporting events in New South Wales are being impacted by the weather.

In the A-League, Sydney FC’s match against Melbourne Victory in Kogarah has been postponed due to the weather.

However, the NRL match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and Penrith Panthers has gone ahead, in Parramatta – which, as we’ve reported, is experiencing flooding.

Nick Cotric and Corey Allan of the Bulldogs dive for the ball in the wet at Bankwest Stadium
Nick Cotric and Corey Allan of the Bulldogs dive for the ball in the wet at Bankwest Stadium. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Updated

Port Stephens, about 200km north of Sydney.

A couple stand at a washed section of road at Port Stephens 200 kilometers north of Sydney on Saturday.
A couple stand at a washed-out section of road at Port Stephens, 200km north of Sydney. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

Updated

'We're in uncharted territory,' says urban water scientist

The effects of Warragamba Dam spilling over could be more dangerous and unpredictable than when it last substantially spilled over in 1990, a water flow scientist has warned, because of a surge in recent development across western Sydney.

Dr Ian Wright, a water scientist at Western Sydney University who previously worked as as a scientist for Sydney Water studying the Sydney basin flows, says it is unclear what the impact of development and more hard surfaces will have on the floodplain.

He warns that large swathes of western Sydney that were previously bushland and soil – which absorb water before flooding – have been paved over and roads and hard surfaces built to support new suburbs in recent years, and that many of these suburbs “are pretty close to the floodplain”.

Wright says:

It’s going to be a long night for everyone. We are absolutely in uncharted territory.

Because all the hard surfaces that have popped up, we don’t know how the hydrology will react.

The bushland and farmland that used to be there soaked up the water, and needed to be saturated before flooding. But now because of all the paving and the houses, the runoff goes straight into the waterway.

Wright told the Guardian that he believed flood-prone zones could include areas between Wallacia and Camden, Penrith and North Richmond, and Windsor and South Creek.

Updated

In Bondi, in Sydney’s east.

Updated

David Elliott says number of SES rescues 'completely unacceptable'

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has warned “it’s not going to be an easy week for us” as details of the storms and flooding affecting the state emerge.

Speaking shortly after Warragamba Dam began spilling over, Berejiklian said the “deep-seated, extreme weather event” could last until the end of next week for some parts of the state, and pleaded with residents to obey evacuation warnings.

Berejiklian said:

We hope those predictions are wrong.

Concerning me this morning, as many may be aware, in Chester Hill we experienced an unexpected mini-tornado, which exacerbated the weather conditions, which caused a lot of damage for that region.

The State Emergency Service in NSW has responded to 4,000 call-outs and made 500 direct flood rescues since Thursday. Most were on the mid north coast, however there have been some flood rescues in Sydney’s west.

NSW’s emergency services minister, David Elliott, urged residents to obey the pleas of authorities to not attempt to drive through floodwaters, and to obey flood evacuation warnings.

Five hundred flood rescues over the course of this operation so far is just completely unacceptable. That’s 500 specialist SES crews that have put their lives at risk because people have not heeded the warnings.

If the trajectory is correct and we keep going down this line we will look at 2,000 flood rescues before Wednesday, when the majority of the storm should conclude.

The message is very clear. Do not walk through or drive through flood waters, do not drive over water that is covering a road.

The SES commissioner, Carlene York, said:

I have seen vision on the TV of people running through floodwaters, driving through floodwaters ... your vehicle could float away and you cannot control what will happen. You are putting your life and your passengers at risk as well as my and other emergency services that will go out and respond to your call. Be patient.

York also clarified that the mini-tornado in Chester Hill affected about three streets in the suburb, and that about a thousand people have lost power now.

She said a mini-tornado could occur again, and that it emphasised the importance for Sydneysiders to not leave their home for non-essential reasons as they could risk being caught up in such a weather event.

“I hope it won’t happen again, it is an unusual event but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen again,” she said of the mini tornado.

Updated

Sydney's Warragamba Dam overflowing

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam has begun overflowing as intense rain continues to batter NSW.

While Water NSW had predicted the overflow, AAP reported that by 3pm the water began spilling out of the dam. It is now expected to join river flows.

Earlier, the Bureau of Meteorology national flood services manager, Justin Robinson, said on Saturday a spill at Warragamba Dam could lead to minor flooding in Sydney’s west, specifically at Penrith and North Richmond later on Saturday, potentially developing into major flooding overnight.

Updated

'Mini-tornado' rips through western Sydney, damaging homes

A “mini-tornado” has ripped through a western Sydney suburb, tossing trees, ripping off roof tiles and spearing a trampoline into the side of a house.

This follows our earlier reports in this blog that more than 30 homes in Chester Hill had been damaged, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.

AAP is reporting that many of those homes partially collapsed, and that power has been cut to much of the area.

Emergency services were called to Chester Hill around 8.30am on Saturday after reports of widespread storm damage across the area.

“Fire and Rescue Macarthur and Wollondilly crews are on scene in Chester Hill where a mini-tornado has left a trail of destruction damaging multiple properties,” the brigade said in a tweet.

“Crews are working to remove trees, tarp roofs and conduct rapid impact assessments.”

Photos of the damage show a trampoline with its legs impaling the side of a house.

The phenomenon was likely caused by intense localised rainfall, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Meteorologist David Wilkie says their systems picked up strong rotating winds, but the event may not have technically been a tornado.

“It’s hard to say exactly what it was. Whether or not it reached the kind of threshold you might term a tornado is certainly debatable but ... looking at the damage it was obviously some pretty intense wind gusts that passed over the area.”

The freak storm struck as a weather system that has sparked record flooding along the NSW coast headed towards Sydney.

Updated

More from the Parramatta River.

A ferry wharf on the currently over flowing Parramatta river today.
A ferry wharf on the currently overflowing Parramatta River in Sydney. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

There is some more information about the house seen floating down a river in Taree, on the New South Wales mid north coast.

AAP reports the cottage used to stand at Mondrook, opposite Taree, on the Manning River.

Today flood waters in Taree are expected to rival a record set before the second world war.

Surging flood waters lifted the house from its foundations on Saturday and it’s been filmed moving at speed down the river, which is expected to peak at 5.8 metres later in the day.

That’s higher than Taree’s 1978 and 2011 floods and close to the record flood level of six metres recorded in 1929.

Lyle Edge says his brother lived in the house with his partner. They should have been getting married on Saturday. Instead they’ve been left homeless and their pets are dead.

“Our brother Joshua and his fiancée Sarah lost their entire home and belongings to the flood waters in Mondrook on the mid north coast,” Edge has written in launching a GoFundMe campaign to help the couple.

“What was supposed to be their wedding day ended up with their house floating down river and them losing everything they have worked hard for and sadly losing their pets as well.”

In just three hours, the campaign had raised almost $8,000.

Updated

Footage of flooding at Hornsby, in Sydney’s upper north.

And this, from Penrith, which is in the city’s far west, at the foot of the lower Blue Mountains – an area that authorities are predicting to be hit with intense rain this afternoon.

A person is seen next to the overflowing Nepean River at the Penrith weir on Saturday.
A person is seen next to the overflowing Nepean River at the Penrith weir on Saturday. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

As we reported earlier, Sydney’s Warragamba Dam is expected to spill over this afternoon, potentially causing further flooding across western Sydney.

There are reports of damaged homes across Sydney’s west.

More than 30 homes have been damaged in the suburb of Chester Hill, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.

Meanwhile the State Emergency Service has performed two flood rescues in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Here is a photo of the banks of the Parramatta River at a ferry stop.

The swollen Parramatta River is seen overflowing as NSW experiences heavy rains
The swollen Parramatta River in Sydney is seen overflowing. Photograph: Dan Peled/Reuters

Updated

Here is another angle of the Manning River at Taree, where, as we reported earlier, a house has been seen floating away.

We’re expecting the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and the emergency services minister, David Elliott, to hold a press conference at 3pm from the Bankstown State Emergency Service unit. The SES commissioner, Carlene York, will also provide an update.

I’ll bring you the latest from that when it happens.

Updated

Extraordinary scenes have been recorded across the New South Wales mid north coast today, including this of a house being swept away near Taree.

It’s especially concerning given reports that some residents in the area have been living from their cars in recent times, according to Margaret Hope, the owner of the Bellingen Riverside Cottages, who was interviewed on the ABC.

She said:

We’re very high, on the high side of the river. So we’re fortunate. But some places are really having to evacuate. It’s been a little bit tough on those people.

And unfortunately we’ve got a lot of people who are living in their cars at the moment due to accommodation, a lack of rent, and so those people have been suffering quite a bit in this weather.

She also said that people in Bellingen were currently unable to cross the bridge connecting the town.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology’s senior climatologist, Agata Imielska, also announced some rainfall records had been broken in the past day.

She said for the mid north coast and Hunter region, rainfall had broken previous March records by as much as 200mm.

Imielska said:

To give you context of the rainfall, we have seen 405mm recorded at Kendall. So that’s a record heaviest rainfall that we’ve seen. Also 371mm at Red Oak.

And it’s not just the total rainfall amount, it’s also how quickly and intensely that rainfall has actually fallen. So we had 160mm fall in just three hours at Kindee bridge that resulted in also a record river height at that particular location.

Updated

Sydney's Warragamba Dam set to spill over

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam is set to spill over this afternoon and combine with river flows to potentially cause flooding across western Sydney.

The Bureau of Meteorology national flood services manager, Justin Robinson, delivered the warning at a press conference in Sydney just now. I’ll share the updates from that over a few posts here.

Robinson said that once the Warragamba Dam spills over, it could lead to minor flooding in Sydney’s west, specifically at Penrith and North Richmond, later today, which could develop into major flooding overnight as river levels continue to rise.

Robinson said:

It’s a very dynamic and evolving flood situation and we could see some very deep and rapid responding rivers with very high levels.

He noted there are very heavy rainfall predictions for the lower Blue Mountains area, which could contribute to the situation. The area is expected to get 100mm of rain this afternoon, but it could be as much as 200-300mm.

BoM’s senior climatologist, Agata Imielska, said “the heaviest falls are expected over the lower Blue Mountains, where we are likely to see 200-300mm”, noting this could contribute to the situation in western Sydney.

Updated

One metre of rain in a week possible, says BoM

A new band of rain is headed for flood-hit NSW and is expected to push rainfall totals in some places to one metre in the space of just a week.

The Bureau of Meteorology says eastern NSW is in for a double whammy, AAP reports.

A new band of rain moving down from the Kimberley in Western Australia will push through central Australia on Sunday.

On Monday it will pass over outback southern Queensland into northern NSW, where it will link up with the slow moving coastal trough that’s already caused widespread flooding on the east coast.

BoM meteorologist Jonathan How says it’s not yet clear where the rain band will dump the heaviest falls because they’ll be generated by hard-to-predict storm activity.

But he says eastern NSW is definitely in the firing line, when the band and the trough come together.

“That’s when we’ll see a very large burst of rain, across eastern NSW, dipping into north-eastern Victoria and south-east Queensland from Monday night, into Tuesday,” he says.

The first dry day for NSW is not expected until Wednesday.

How says some NSW locations, particularly around the Port Macquarie area, have already recorded 500-600mm of rain in the past 48 hours or so.

“By Monday or Tuesday, it’s not unreasonable that some places will possibly be poking one metre of rain for the whole event,” he says of the rain, which began in earnest on Wednesday.

Updated

My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes has filed this report on the wild weather battering New South Wales.

Here’s what we know so far about the floods and evacuations:

There are some remarkable images coming out of Port Macquarie this morning:

Evacuation orders issued for multiple areas

New South Wales’ State Emergency Service has issued evacuation orders for low-lying properties in these areas:

  • Central Wingham and the Wingham Peninsula
  • Taree Estate, Dumaresq Island and Cundletown
  • Laurieton, North Haven, Dunbogan and Diamond Head
  • Kings Point and Macksville
  • Wauchope and Rawdon Island
  • Bulahdelah
  • Kempsey CBD
  • Lower Macleay
  • Port Macquarie

Evacuation centres have been set up for residents of these areas at the following locations:

  • Wingham Golf Club, 30/32 Country Club Drive, Wingham
  • Taree RSL and Golf Club, 121 Wingham Road, Taree
  • The Laurieton United Services Club, 2 Seymour Street, Laurieton
  • Kempsey Showground, 19 Sea Street, West Kempsey
  • Port Panthers, 1 Bay Street, Port Macquarie (access via Bago Road only)
  • Bulahdelah Central School, 8 Meade Street (Church Street)
  • Auditorium at Macksville High School, 40 Boundary Street, Macksville (access via Park Street)
  • South West Rocks Country Club, 2 Sportmans Way, South West Rocks

It’s important to be aware of the difficulty in travelling between some areas. The Pacific Highway remains closed in both directions between Coopernook and Glenthorne, while the northbound lanes are closed at Moorland between Hannam Vale Road and Jericho Road.

The Oxley Highway between Mount Seaview and Walcha remains closed in both directions following a landslide.

Detailed explanations of each evacuation order can be read on the NSW SES website: www.ses.nsw.gov.au

The Public Information and Inquiry Centre can be contacted by calling 1800 227 228.

Updated

'Life-threatening' downpour

Welcome to our live coverage of the rain and floods across New South Wales today.

I’m Elias Visontay, and I’ll be bringing you updates from a sodden Sydney. If you see anything you think I should know about, you can email me at elias.visontay@theguardian.com.

Please get in touch with any stories or pictures you have of how this weather is affecting you today, wherever you are. Tweet me pictures of what you’re seeing @EliasVisontay. Stay safe.

My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes has already filed this report about the “potentially life-threatening” downpour that has flooded rivers and triggered evacuations along the NSW coast.

The weather is battering Sydney, with up to 150mm of rain expected to hit the city, and residents have been urged to stay home.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the deluge would be “substantially heavier” than the strong rain that has plagued Sydney for most of the week.

A severe weather warning was issued on Saturday, covering an area from the mid north coast to the far south coast of NSW as well as Canberra.

The BoM said there was intense rainfall “potentially leading to life-threatening flash flooding” and damaging winds averaging 60-70km/h with gusts exceeding 90km/h.

It said strong winds may generate damaging surf, with significant wave heights of five metres in the surf zone bringing potential for coastal erosion.

You can read more here:

Updated

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