Australia’s southeast is bracing for more wet weather after more than 1000 calls for help were made to the NSW State Emergency Service during 24 hours of heavy rain.
Weatherzone reported a 1500km/h storm band moving across eastern parts of Australia on Wednesday, prompting severe weather warnings across NSW and Victoria.
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The NSW Far South Coast bore the brunt of the wild conditions, with crews asking residents to stay vigilant to the possibility of more rain and flooding.
A watch and act warning remains in place for Lake Conjola and the Bega River and people are urged not to enter floodwaters.
In the 24 hours to 5am on Thursday, NSW SES responded to 1056 incidents across the state, with more than 500 in the southeastern zone.
In Lake Conjola, two people trapped in floodwaters were rescued on Thursday morning, while about 40 homes have been inundated with water.
Operations manager Dallas Burnes said almost 1200 personnel had been deployed to assist communities lashed by heavy rain.
“There is still a severe weather warning in place for some of the South Coast district with further rain and damaging winds today but we do expect it to gradually ease through the course of the day,” he told Sunrise.
The Sydney basin was also drenched by Wednesday’s downpour, with intense rain soaking the inner city, outer west and southern suburbs from late afternoon.
Victoria
In Victoria, the SES received 661 calls for help in the 24 hours to 7am on Thursday.
Most were from suburbs in Melbourne’s outer east for trees down over roads, building damage and some flood-related incidents.
The emergency response is now focused on the Gippsland region in the state’s east, with a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging winds issued for parts of the region.
Three separate watch and act alerts were current as of Thursday morning.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast possible rainfalls of 80mm to 150mm in the east, plus up to 200mm locally over parts of East Gippsland.
Damaging wind gusts of up to 100km/h are also possible.
Victoria SES chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch said he could not emphasise enough the importance of never driving through floodwaters.
“We are particularly asking residents in Gippsland to make sure they stay tuned to their emergency broadcasters,” he said.
“Download your local flood guide to understand what different river heights and different levels might mean.”