Heavy rain and storms hit Sydney causing commuter chaos - The Sydney Morning Herald

Power restored in the CBD

By Sarah Keoghan

Power has been restored to 1300 customers after business and homes in Sydney’s CBD were hit with power outages about 7am due to thunderstorms.

About 300 customers in the CBD are still without power, with Ausgrid crews still working to restore power to Ryde, North Ryde, St Ives, North Turramurra, Marsfield, and Blue Haven on the Central Coast.

Power outages are still affecting 5200 customers.

People continue to ignore flood warnings, research shows

By Julie Power

NSW Police are warning drivers not to drive through floodwaters - although research found many people continue to ignore warnings at their peril.

Most of the 178 flood-related deaths in Australia since 2000 have resulted from motorists driving into flood water, found research by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre.

Flooding in Wentworth Avenue, Eastgardens.Credit:Louise Kennerley

Even though floodwaters are the nation’s second-highest natural disaster killer – after heatwaves –
Macquarie research fellow Andrew Gissing said that driving through floodwater is an entrenched social behaviour.

Many people make a deliberate choice to do it.

“Despite prominent warning signs and road closures, though, people persist in driving into floods,” Gissing said.

“The safety of floodwater can often be very difficult to judge - in particular the speed and depth of the water and what might be underneath,” Gissing says. “Making only a slight error of judgement can be the difference between life and death.”

Of the 282 unintentional fatal drownings that occur each year, about 13 are flood-related, said the newly published research paper in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia.

Despite campaigns such as Turn Around Don't Drown, drownings from driving into floodwaters were the leading cause of death during floods because many members of the public believed they could accurately wrongly believed they could judge the safety of floodwaters.

More requests for flood rescue

By Sarah Keoghan

The SES has been hit with 12 flood rescue requests this morning due to flash flooding across Sydney.

The requests for help have come from Artarmon, Macquarie Park, Pymble, West Ryde, Marrickville, Silverwater, and the northern beaches.

An SES spokeswoman said the majority of requests have come from people who ignored warnings and drove through deep flash flooding.

The spokeswoman said 73 crews have been activated today due to the thunderstorms.

The SES is urging motorists to turn around instead of driving through flash flooding, as flood water levels can be difficult to judge.

About 50 flights cancelled as weather hits airport

By Laura Chung

About 50 flights have been cancelled or delayed as strong winds and rain take hold of Sydney.

The airport was earlier running on single runway operations, but has since returned to full service.

The operational changes caused massive delays and cancellations, but a spokeswoman for Sydney Airport said: “safety comes first”.

Working overnight, airport staff are doing all they can to ensure passengers are inconvenienced as little as possible.

The airport spokesperson advised passengers to check-in with their airline to ensure they receive flight status updates.

Public transport still affected by massive delays

While T3 train services have resumed between Sydenham and Campsie, a large number of other public transport services are affected.

All light rail services have been cancelled and replacement buses are yet to arrive
Buses in the inner west are delayed up to an hour, while buses in Ramsgate are delayed up to 45 minutes
Neutral Bay and Mosman buses are delayed up to half an hour and Chatswood buses are delayed up to 20 minutes
T1 North Shore Line passengers are advised to allow extra travel time
Town Hall station is experiencing access issues, after a partial roof collapse

Road chaos as police label conditions worst ever

By Sarah Keoghan

Roads are in chaos due to the wild weather, with westbound lanes of the Anzac Bridge closed due to flooding.

Flooding and traffic on Roseville Bridge in Roseville.Credit:Nick Moir

Traffic is now being diverted onto Pyrmont Bridge Road and can rejoin the Anzac Bridge after the Fish Market.

Creating further havoc, both Pittwater and Epping Road in North Ryde have been closed southbound.

Parramatta Road has also been closed off in both directions between Concord Road and George Street, with motorists advised to use the M4 instead.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander, Assistant Commissioner Michael Corboy said the conditions were some of the "worst" Sydney has ever seen, and urged motorists to take care on the roads.

Johnson creek at Annandale floods as heavy rain hits Sydney.Credit:David Porter

“Drivers need to consider reducing their speed to make sure they have enough braking distance for themselves and for the vehicle in front, and to drive to the conditions,” he said.

“Today’s weather will be particularly dangerous for motorcycle riders and cyclists and if they are on the road, they should wear bright-coloured clothing, be seen by other vehicles and share roads safely.”

Video shows flooding around Sydney

The weather has caused flash flooding around the city, take a look:

It's not over yet: rain to persist through afternoon

By Megan Levy

The heavy rain that hit Sydney during Wednesday morning's peak could continue well into the afternoon, before moving offshore.

A Bureau of Meteorology spokeswoman said the total rainfalls would depend on where thunderstorms formed during the day.

"Certainly this morning and this afternoon, that's that kind of six to 12-hour period we expected falls to be heaviest. We are starting to see the winds pick up. They will continue along the coastal fringe in particular into the evening and then start to ease off tomorrow," the spokeswoman told Channel Nine.

"It is quite heavy rates (of rainfall) for a single day but it is not going to hang around like we see with some of the east coast lows and produce the heavy rain totals over multiple days."

Sydney has already copped 100 millimetres of rain

It's still early in the morning, but Sydney has already received 100 millimetres of rain.

Our environment editor Peter Hannam says the last time more than 100 millimetres of rain was recorded in a 24-hour period to 9am was in 2015.

More than 8100 without power due to storm

More than 8100 homes and businesses are without power as a massive storm cell sweeps the coast of NSW.

An Ausgrid spokesman said as of 8.15am, more than 8100 customers in Sydney's CBD, northern Sydney and the Central Coast were affected by power outages. The main areas impacted are parts of the CBD, Ryde, North Ryde, St Ives, North Turramurra, Marsfield, and Blue Haven on the Central Coast.