More than 30,000 Sydney residents told to evacuate as it floods for fourth time in 18 months

Aerial shots show residential areas semi-submerged in floodwater

More than 30,000 residents of Sydney and the surrounding area have been told to evacuate as Australia’s largest city faces its fourth and possibly worst round of flooding in 18 months. Torrential rain since Friday caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banks, bringing another flood emergency for the city of five million people. “The latest information we have is that there’s a very good chance that the flooding will be worse than any of the other three floods that those areas had in the last 18 months,” emergency management minister Murray Watt told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

In February, eight people died after flash floods battered the country's east coast.

The current flooding might affect areas that managed to stay dry during the previous floods, Mr Watt added. New South Wales state premier Dominic Perrottet said 32,000 people were impacted by evacuation orders and warnings.

“You’d probably expect to see that number increase over the course of the week,” Mr Perrottet said.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know

Emergency services had made 116 flood rescues in recent days, 83 of them since 9pm on Sunday, he said. Hundreds more requests for help were made on Monday. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology Manager Jane Golding said some areas between Newcastle, north of Sydney, and Wollongong, south of Sydney had received more than a metre of rain in the previous 24 hours. Some has received more than 1.5 metres.

Those totals are near the average annual rainfall for coastal areas of New South Wales. “The system that has been generating this weather does show signs that it will ease tomorrow, but throughout today, expect more rain,” Ms Golding said. Rain was forecast across New South Wales’s coast, including Sydney, all week, she said. The Bureau of Meteorology says up to 12 centimetres of rain could fall in Sydney on Monday.

The flooding danger was highest along the Hawkesbury River, in northwest Sydney, and the Nepean River in Sydney’s west. State emergency services commissioner Carlene York said strong winds had toppled trees, damaged rooves and was resulting in blockages to roads. She advised against unnecessary travel.

Off the New South Wales coast, a cargo ship with 21 crew members lost power after leaving port in Wollongong on Monday morning. It was anchored near the coast and tugboats were preparing to tug it into safer, open waters. The ship has engineers on board capable of repairing the engine, port official John Finch told reporters.

“Unfortunately, we just happen to be in some atrocious conditions at the moment,” he said, describing eight-metre swells and winds blowing at 34 mph. Repeated flooding was taking a toll on members of a riverside community southwest of Sydney, said Mayor Theresa Fedeli of the Camden municipality on the Nepean River. Mr Perrottet said government and communities needed to adapt to major flooding becoming more common across Australia’s most populous state. “We’re seeing these flood events more regularly, there’s no doubt about that,” Mr Perrottet said. “To see what we’re seeing right across Sydney, there’s no doubt these events are becoming more common."