Sydney braces for more heavy rains and flash floods as thousands flee homes

More than 30000 residents of Sydney and its surrounds have been told to evacuate or prepare to abandon their homes on Monday as Australias largest city braces for what could be its worst flooding in 18 monthsParts of the city of 5 million people are facing a fourth flooding emergency in a year and a half after torrential rain since Friday caused dams to overflow and waterways to break their banksThe latest information we have is that theres 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 Australian Broadcasting CorpThe current flooding might affect areas that managed to stay dry during the previous floods Watt addedNew South Wales state Premier Dominic Perrottet said 32000 people were impacted by evacuation orders and warningsYoud probably expect to see that number increase over the course of the week Perrottet saidEmergency services had made 116 flood rescues in recent days 83 of them since 9 pm Sunday he said Hundreds more requests for help were made by Monday morningAustralias Bureau of Meteorology manager Jane Golding said some areas between Newcastle north of Sydney and Wollongong south of Sydney had received more than a meter 39 inches of rain in the previous 24 hours Some has received more than 15 meters 59 inchesThe system that has been generating this weather does show signs that it will ease tomorrow but throughout today expect more rain Golding saidRain was forecast across New South Waless coast including Sydney all week she saidThe flooding danger was highest along the Hawkesbury River in northwest Sydney and the Nepean River in Sydneys westThe water is flowing really quickly Golding said Its dangerous out on the rivers and we do have some more rain to fall which means the flashflood risk is not over yetState Emergency Services Commissioner Carlene York said strong winds had toppled trees damaging rooves and blocking roads She advised against unnecessary travelTheresa Fedeli mayor of the Camden municipality on the Nepean River southwest of Sydney said the repeated flooding was taking a toll on members of her communityIts just devastating They just keep on saying devastating not again Fedeli saidI just keep on saying Weve got to be strong we will get through this But you know deep down its really hitting home hard to a lot of people she addedPerrottet said government and communities needed to adapt to major flooding becoming more common across Australias most populous stateWere seeing these flood events more regularly theres no doubt about that Perrottet saidTo see what were seeing right across Sydney theres no doubt these events are becoming more common And governments need to adjust and make sure that we respond to the changing environment that we find ourselves in he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever