Evacuation Warnings Issued Across NSW As Sydney Passes Annual Rainfall

The ongoing rain deluge in Sydney has just passed its mean annual rainfall of 1213mm, with no end in sight.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a severe weather warning for heavy rainfall across Sydney metropolitan area, the Hunter region and the Central Tableland, while a flood evacuation warning was issued about 5am on Thursday for low-lying areas of Woronora and Bonnet Bay, in the Sutherland Shire.

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The State Emergency Service (SES) has urged Sydney motorists to stay off the roads, after receiving 585 requests for assistance, along with seven flood rescues overnight across Sydney and the state’s south-east.

“As people are waking up, [we are] urging them to plan their trips accordingly. If you are in affected areas avoid unnecessary travel. If you can, stay home, stay off the roads,” NSW SES assistant commissioner Dean Storey urged.

“If you live in a flood-prone area that is forecast to the impacted, have a plan in place and be ready to enact that plan if you are required to evacuate your home.”

The SES have said residents in Sydney's south and south-west must be prepared to leave the area in the next few hours.

Flash flooding inundated the Princes Highway at Kogarah about 3am this morning, while residents in an aged care home were evacuated overnight.

The SES also warn of likely major flooding incidents by this afternoon, or early evening at Liverpool, Milperra and Menangle, in Sydney's south-west.

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