Sunday was Sydney’s wettest day of the year, with almost 111 mm (4.4 inches) of rain, while nearly 900 mm (35 inches) was dumped in some north coast regions in the last six days, or more than three times the March average, government data showed.
The Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers flooded most of northwestern Sydney, leaving residents stranded.
“You get a lot of rubbish. It was going past…as fast as the ski boats go…As soon as it broke the banks, it was like a torrent,” said Larry Powers, after he was rescued by emergency services following a day’s wait at his property in Pitt Town.
A helicopter rescued a stranded bride and groom on Saturday to get them to the church on time. The bride, Kate Fotheringham, posted a picture of the newly weds kissing in front of a flooded bridge that had blocked their five-minute drive into town.
“I made it to the church and married the love of my life!” she said on Twitter on Monday.
Authorities said about 18,000 people have been evacuated from low-lying areas.
Large parts of the east coast will get more heavy rain from Monday, brought by a combination of a tropical low over the northern part of Western Australia and a coastal trough off New South Wales, said Jane Golding, a weather official.
“We expect this heavy rain to fall on areas that haven’t seen as much rain over the last few days,” Golding told reporters. “We expect the flood risk to develop in those areas as well.”
Some parts of Sydney’s western regions have suffered the worst flooding since 1961, said authorities, who expect the wild weather to last until Wednesday.
A severe flood warning has been issued for large parts of New South Wales, as well as neighbouring Queensland.