Canberra hit by heavy rain, flash flooding inundates homes

A blue car and a silver car drive through flooded streets in Canberra.

A deluge has brought parts of Canberra to a standstill and left some residents counting the cost as their homes flood.

After a night of high winds and rain, Canberrans woke up on Sunday to more wet weather, which started to cause flash flooding through the morning.

External Link: James Fettes tweet: Road closures all over #Canberra's inner-north due to flooding. Here's Stawell St in O'Connor. @abccanberra

Sixty millimetres of rain were recorded in the space of an hour this morning at Sullivan's creek, just off Lake Burley Griffin, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

The city's north has been hit particularly hard, with roads in Lyneham, Dickson, O'Connor, Turner and many more rendered completely inaccessible.

There were also apartments and homes flooded, with one O'Connor resident saying by the time she and her partner saw the flood warning, it was already too late.

"When we looked out the window it had already flooded and it came much quicker than we thought it would," she said.

"It started coming out of the drains, it started coming out of the cupboards — we just couldn't stop it.

"It was too fast, so we got out. We've got a little one, we don't want to mess around."

A long stretch of Northbourne Avenue was closed off, with police advising people to avoid the area.

Royal Canberra Show must go on

External Link: Anna Macdonald video tweet: Flash flooding in the suburb this morning

It is also bad news for organisers of the Royal Canberra Show, which is having its final day in the northern suburb of Mitchell.

Many events had to pause for safety reasons but Royal National Capital Agricultural Society president Michael Kennedy said they would restart what they could as the rain eased.

"It's unfortunate, the rain this morning. We didn't need it," he said.

"We've had people travel from Queensland [and] South Australia to compete, so we'll take a pause. Anything that's affecting OH&S-wise we'll take a pause and have a look, but we're open.

"These are country people — it rains, they like the rain. It's a bit unfortunate for us [because] we get wet feet, but we're going ahead."

Police also closed off Majura Parkway and advised people with livestock in the area near the airport to check on them and move them if necessary.

BOM issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the ACT and surrounding areas, telling people to unplug electrical appliances, stay indoors and away from windows.

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