Another driver was rescued from flood waters near Cattai Creek in Sydney’s north-west, a day before a 25-year-old man died when he became trapped in his car at the same location.
A local resident, who did not want to be named to protect his privacy, told the Guardian that he had pulled a young driver from the same location on Tuesday.
He had been moving his farming equipment on Tuesday morning when his father told him that someone appeared to be stuck in flood waters near their property on Cattai Ridge Road, close to Cattai Creek.
When they went to check it out, they saw “a young man trapped inside his car with approximately 300ml of air space left”.
“The car interior was almost full with water.”
The man used his bobcat to tow the car out of the water “with the young man visibly shaken”.
When police arrived, the resident said officers told him that the p-plate driver had been on the phone with them for “at least 45 minutes”.
The 25-year-old Pakistani national who died at the location on Wednesday morning had been on the phone with emergency services for more than 40 minutes before contact was lost.
NSW police Det Insp Chris Laird suggested his hire car’s electrical system may have failed, preventing him from escaping.
“The triple zero operator did continue to maintain contact with the 25-year-old male as he was in the car. However, at 7.04am, it’s believed contact was lost with the male. Police arrived on the scene shortly after and were unable to find the car.”
Police said the man was driving a new car – a Toyota Camry – and it was unclear why he could not escape in time.
Laird said the flood gate blocking the road and signage was 10 metres underwater when they found his body.
“The actual gate blocking the road was underwater by 10 metres,” Det Insp Chris Laird said at a press conference on Wednesday.
“Given the unprecedented water levels, the gates could not be seen from the roadway at all. What has happened is a complete tragedy.”
The local resident questioned why the road had not been closed or proper signage installed to prevent other drivers making the same mistake.
“This tragedy could have been avoided had the roads been properly closed or manned. In addition, existing flood gates should be positioned above the one-in-100-year flood line.”
He also said that the very shape of the road, which dips into a valley and has many sudden turns, made it extremely dangerous during floods.
“Part of the problem was that the flood gate that closes the road was submerged under the flood waters and, upon approaching the sharp bend, there was no way for a driver to realise there was water across the road, especially in the dark early hours of the morning.”
He said that there was a barricade installed before the bend, but that when the man died there on Wednesday, the lights were not working.
“There was a part barricade 1km beforehand, but the lights were not working. The flashing lights have since been installed on Wednesday and are now working correctly.”
Police have not provided a response after being reached for comment.
Emergency services across Australia have been urging people never to drive through flood water, after another man was found dead in flood waters in the Gold Coast hinterland.
The NSW State Emergency Service has received more than 11,000 calls for assistance during the floods, including 976 rescues.
It rescued a total of 62 people on Wednesday and a total of 994 since the weather event began. More than 1,600 rescue teams have been activated across the state and more than 1,500 volunteers are currently in the field.
