Hundreds of calls for assistance have been made and several flood rescues carried out as heavy rain lashes parts of Australia’s east coast.
Dozens of flood warnings are in place across New South Wales, with the state’s Central West, Hunter and Illawarra regions among the worst affected areas.
Two low pressure troughs moved through the state this week, the Bureau of Meteorology said, bringing rain of up to 100mm in some locations.
More rain is expected overnight and in the coming days as a third low pressure system sweeps across the state, with already saturated dams and rivers raising the risk of flash flooding.
The NSW State Emergency Service on Saturday afternoon issued a plea to residents amid the “very dangerous conditions”.
“Significant rain has been falling, is falling, and is expected to fall over the next few days, with perhaps another front towards the middle to late next week,” NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said.
“So it is important to remember the ground is saturated, the rivers are full and the dams are full, often over 100 per cent.
“It’s very dangerous conditions out there and we’d ask the public to be aware of the warnings and the information that’s going out, to make sure that they make safe decisions.”
Commissioner York said the NSW SES received more than 330 calls for assistance over the last 24 hours, and performed six flood rescues in the same period.
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