Sydney flash flooding: 500 SES calls as heavy rain inundates Fairfield and western suburbs
A slow-moving weather system has unleashed torrential rain across Sydney and the Illawarra, inundating homes and turning streets into rivers.
Heavy rain and thunderstorms have triggered flash flooding across Sydney, the Illawarra and the Central Coast, with emergency services responding to hundreds of calls for help after intense downpours inundated homes and streets.
The NSW State Emergency Service responded to around 500 calls for assistance across the Sydney metropolitan area in the 24 hours to 6am Friday, as local heavy falls caused rapid flooding in several suburbs.
In Fairfield, about a dozen properties were evacuated after water surged into homes.
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Some of the heaviest falls were recorded in the 24 hours to 9am Friday. Mount Pleasant near Wollongong received 131mm. Lidcombe in Sydney recorded 122mm, including 105mm in just three hours, and 73mm in a single hour. Darkes Forest also recorded 122mm, while Shanes Park in Western Sydney received 115mm, including 74mm in six hours and 45mm in one hour. Avalon, Mona Vale and Wamberal all recorded around or above 100mm.
In parts of Western Sydney, streets turned into fast-moving waterways within hours.
Extraordinary footage from Fairfield showed cars half-submerged, debris floating past front yards and a basketball hoop drifting down what is normally a quiet suburban road. In one clip, the street resembled a canal, with water surging past driveways and swallowing parked cars.
Western Sydney Windscreens owner Jacob said he was at work when the flooding escalated, News.com.au shared.
“I was at work and the missus gave me a call to come back home (saying) I’ve got to move the cars, so I’m like, ‘well what’s up’? She goes, ‘the river’s coming up’. I’m like, ‘oh, s..t’ so we jumped in the car, we headed back and the police had cordoned off our road,” he said.
“I get back home and cars are locked half underwater and then I’m like, s..t. So we took the ski and then helped out some people and had some fun in between,” he said.
Jacob said the area has a history of flooding due to a nearby stream bottleneck.
“We’ve put in a bunch of complaints every time it does the same thing and (council) do nothing about it,” he said.
“Hopefully this time they open their eyes and they actually widen the stream or do something to make the flow ease. Because, man, every year it comes up basically. It rains hard for one hour and the street’s flooded.”
Two doors down, a family was forced out of their home on their first day in the property.
“Their house copped it pretty bad, so they had to get out of there. For them to go through the stream was too dangerous so I was like, let me just put the jet ski in and help them out.”
While rain eased across much of central eastern NSW on Friday morning, further showers and thunderstorms remain possible as the trough lingers near the coast.
Authorities have warned that additional intense falls could trigger further flooding, urging residents to monitor updates and warnings in their area.
