The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a series of flood warnings across NSW for Tuesday 1 March, including in Queanbeyan and the South Coast.
The BOM are predicting a low-pressure system to bring heavy to torrential rain affecting Sydney, Illawarra and the South Coast from later today and say that “major flooding is possible from Greater Sydney down to the South Coast and Queanbeyan”.
A number of catchments across NSW are predicted to be affected by the heavy rain, with the Queanbeyan and Molonglo Rivers expecting “moderate to major flooding”.
As a result of the predicted floods, the Queanbeyan SES Unit will be handing out sandbags at 34 Erin Street, Queanbeyan today for local residents in need.
Roads and bridges are expected to be closed later today, although houses are not expected to be inundated.
Devasting floods across Queensland and NSW
The fresh warnings come as NSW and Queensland have been hammered by rain over the past week resulting in severe and devastating floods.
In Queensland, eight people have died and up to three are missing in the floods that have damaged thousands of homes and businesses, after the average annual rainfall fell on parts of the southeast in just days.
The Brisbane River banks have been evacuated near the CBD after a crane on a pontoon broke free of its moorings near the Story Bridge on Monday afternoon.
Lismore has been the worst hit NSW town and is expected to be under an astonishing 16 metres of flood waters.
“The expectation of the flood waters peaking is now above 16 metres in Lismore and, for context, the previous record was just a tick over 12 metres in 1954,” NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told ABC Radio on Monday.
There are also reports of the first confirmed NSW flood death, an elderly woman in her 80s who was found inside her flood-affected home.
A post on social media showed the high-standing Lismore McDonald’s sign almost entirely underwater.
For life threatening emergencies, call 000. For emergency assistance call the SES on 132 500.
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