Sodden commuters and flooded stations as Sydney cops a drenching
Transport for NSW was monitoring the T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line closely due to heavy rainfall, which caused minor delays it said could worsen on Friday. Several morning ferry services between Circular Quay and Manly were cancelled due to large swell in the harbour.
Elsewhere on the network, a substantial land slip at Cardiff Station in Newcastle caused significant delays and closures, which Longland described as an 'evolving situation'.
'They've had very heavy rainfall overnight and over the last 24 hours. We won't know the detail around that damage until those assessments are complete.'
Passengers were advised to avoid travel on affected lines where possible, and to leave extra time, with some trains left stationary at platforms or between stations for long periods of time. The rail chaos came days after a live wire falling on a train at Strathfield caused major delays earlier in the week.
Co-ordinator General Howard Collins said the weather situation remained 'very dynamic and changing', and advised road users to avoid any unnecessary travel heading out towards 'the west, south, and north of Sydney'.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recorded huge rainfall totals overnight after a coastal trough that had brought record-breaking rains to the Mid North Coast and the Hunter, claiming the lives of four people, began to move south overnight over the Southern Hunter, Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands.
More than 179mm was recorded at North Richmond, north-west of Sydney, between 9am Thursday and Friday morning, with minor flooding occurring along the Hawkesbury River in the area. There was a risk of minor flooding along the Nepean River around Menangle late on Friday morning.
Between 60 and 100 millimetres of rain fell overnight across the wider Sydney area; 170mm fell at Robertson, south-west of Wollongong. On Friday, the weather bureau issued an updated severe weather warning, with heavy rainfall expected for parts of the Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Tablelands, with possible six-hourly totals of 60 to 120 millimetres.
NSW Premier Chris Minns told Sydneysiders to continue to monitor SES and BOM advice, as the movement of the coastal low began to bring some relief for residents in the upper Hunter and the Mid North Coast.
'I think it's fair to say that the weather system is moving south,' Minns told 2GB. 'What we're a little bit concerned about early next week is wind that would affect electricity.'
Sydney Airport returned to normal operation at 7.30am on Friday, but a spokesperson said it was experiencing delays as a result of the closure.
'Sydney Airport's east-west runway was operating earlier, but we are now back on two parallel north-south runways,' they said.
Flights operated by Qantas scheduled to arrive from Dubbo, Orange and Armidale were also cancelled due to poor weather. The airport advised passengers to check with individual airlines regarding other cancellations.
Meanwhile, a spill at Warragamba Dam in south-west Sydney was unlikely on Friday after WaterNSW said less rain had fallen than expected overnight.
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Spokesman James Yousif said WaterNSW would not remove a warning issued on Thursday until later on Friday if rain continued to ease.
'WaterNSW will continue to monitor dam inflows and rainfall throughout the day and will keep the community updated on any expected impacts on Warragamba Dam,' he said.
Speaking to 2GB, Minns said the risk at Warragamba appeared to have reduced. 'We can't guarantee it, but even if it did top it's unlikely that the river network would result in evacuation. But I have to temper all of this because that's our best guess.
'If circumstances change, we'll let people know straight away.'
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The uncommon waterspout at Anna Bay was captured by residents, who posted photos and videos on social media. The phenomenon is typically caused when wind blowing in contrary directions meet, creating a twisting action along the convergence line. The result forces air upwards, carrying water with it, and can result in localised heavy showers as it passes. It is not uncommon to see multiple spouts drifting in a line across the horizon, forecasters say, as the converging edge of the two wind gusts causes the air to twist at several points. The return to rain at the weekend came with a sense of trepidation as residents across the region and the Mid-North Coast recovered from widespread flooding last month. It comes as the state and federal governments expand disaster relief grants and funding this week, dating back to Tropical Cyclone Alfred in February. During question time in the NSW Parliament on Wednesday, Premier Chris Minns, said the state and its federal counterpart were providing a slew of relief funds, including disaster recovery grants, hardship payments up to $900 for families, income support payments, one-off federal government disaster payments, and support for councils, emergency services and roads and infrastructure recovery. "I genuinely do accept that this is a start," Mr Minns told the Parliament. "We need to do this in conjunction with the Commonwealth government. It needs to be 50-50, payments." "This shouldn't come down to dollars and cents, but I need to make sure that this is sustainable." "In the period between 2019 and today, we've spent more than $6 billion, and we wouldn't take any of that money back. It's absolutely essential that we spend it. But it needs to be done in a consistent way because the truth of the matter is, I can't guarantee there's not another one of these disasters next week, next month, next year."
