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

One dead, nine injured, 47 crashes in six hours

Police and paramedics are pleading with drivers to be careful on the roads during this afternoon’s peak period after attending 47 motor vehicle crashes in a six hour window this morning.

Nine people were transported to hospital between 6am and 12am, and one person died after a two car crash in Thornleigh.

NSW Ambulance Acting Superintendent Steve Vaughan said there were four times as many crashes during this morning's peak than yesterday's.

"In my 12 years here we’ve certainly seen some sustained poor weather, but nothing like this," he said. "We are really urging people to slow down and not drive if possible,” he said.

Mr Vaughan also said that NSW Ambulance have had concerns with emergency helicopters not being deployed due to conditions.

"We sent one out to the crash at Thornleigh but we aren’t always able to get them out," he said. "We are well above required staff so have many crew on standby, but we might not be able to get there as quickly as we’d like so we are really urging people to drive to the conditions."

Deluge creates 'beautiful new water feature' in yard

Billy Tucker of Hunters Hill was "running around like a wet rat" after water starting pouring down his stairs into the house around 6.15am, but he managed to see the lighter side when he posted this video of his brand new "water feature".

The spectacle lasted around 30 minutes before Mr Tucker managed to create a makeshift barrier out of a spare rug to stop the waterfall.

"I also managed to open up one of the drains and threw a few towels down at the doorstep so luckily the water didn’t get into the house too badly," he said. "I heard there is another wave of rain coming this afternoon, so have made sure that my barrier is good to go in case of more flooding."

Mr Tucker said that the household was experiencing even more rain-related chaos, with his wife trying to catch a flight out of Sydney Airport to Melbourne.

"She was on the earliest flight and was suppose to leave at 6am; she left at 9.15am," he said. "She was definitely stressed but the kids were absolutely loving the rain."

Sydney downpour a once in a 100-year event

The Bureau of Meteorology's NSW manager Ann Farrell said Sydney copped more than 100 millimetres of rain in less than two hours at the Observatory Hill station this morning - the wettest daily total the site has recorded since 1984.

"According to our estimates, for that intensity and that duration, that’s the sort of rainfall you’d expect to occur about once every 100 years for that particular site," she said.

Ms Farrell said the rain will continue into the evening, but is expected to clear by the morning.

The storms are expected to continue along the NSW coast this afternoon and into the evening.Credit:Fairfax Media

Concerns for flash flooding, falling trees as storms approach

The SES has warned flash flooding is likely and the potential for more trees to fall is "very high", but emergency services can't predict which areas will be worst hit.

NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Scott Hanckel said the flash flooding could occur "pretty much anywhere", and people needed to "stay vigilant" on the roads throughout the rest of Wednesday.

Mr Hanckel said people should limit travel to essential travel only, and reminded motorists to always avoid driving through floodwater.

Storm damage across Sydney.Credit:Ausgrid

Suburbs worst hit by rain

Reporter Josh Dye has taken a look at what suburbs have been sort hit by today's rain.

Mosman (136mm), the Sydney CBD (120mm) and Chatswood (106mm) all topped 100mm, while Abbotsford in the inner west received 97mm.

But the worst could be still to come, with the bureau issuing a severe thunderstorm warning for large hailstones and heavy rainfall in Sydney and most of coastal NSW.

Read his full report here.

SES step up operations as hail, damaging winds threaten

The SES says it has “ramped up” operations in preparation for more heavy rain this afternoon.

More than 70 SES crews - about 300 volunteers - are currently out in the field, an SES spokesman said, as they prepare for more heavy rain and destructive wind this afternoon.

The weather is expected to get worse again this afternoon, with large hail and damaging winds forecast in the next few hours.Credit:David Porter

“We have more rain coming this afternoon which will pose a significant flash flood risk so people need to prepare and make plans," he said.

The SES spokesman urged homeowners to tarp, sandbag or put towels around their homes in preparation for this afternoon’s heavy rainfall.

So far today, the SES has received 876 calls for help, mostly for storm damage including leaking roofs and fallen trees.

He said 13 flood rescues have also been requested throughout the day.

“The number is really quite concerning, so we want to push a message to urge people not to drive through flood water,” the SES spokesman said.

“People driving in the peak rain this afternoon need to keep clear of low lying areas, and should not park their vehicles under trees or power lines.”

Bus wait down to 30 minutes, trains still delayed

The wait for buses has dropped to 30 minutes, after a large number of services across the city experienced delays of up to 70 minutes earlier today.

Lewisham station remains flooded, and a Traffic Management Centre spokesman said a number of train lines were still affected by the weather.

The T1 North Shore, Northern and Western Line was experiencing delays, the spokesman said, as well as the T2 Inner West and Leppington Line, the T3 Bankstown Line and the T8 Airport and South Line.

Dam levels rising thanks to rain

Sydney's dam levels are on the rise after the wild thunderstorms, with high rainfall recorded at both Warragamba and Nepean.

A WaterNSW spokesman said while they will have a better idea on the change in dam levels in the afternoon, they are confident about what they have seen so far.

“Based on the falls we have experienced so far, we are really optimistic about what those inflows to the dams will translate to,” he said.

Storm damage so far

For those of you just joining, here's a bit of a recap of what's happened so far today.

One person has died and two police officers have been injured in separate flood-related incidents around Sydney
Sydney has copped more than 118 millimetres of rain since 5.20am, with more expected this afternoon
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast severe thunderstorms with large hail and damaging winds in the next several hours
A number of roads have been flooded as well as some homes, and a school on the south coast has been damaged by the storm
Flood warnings have been issued for the Cooks, the Hawkesbury-Nepean and the Georges Rivers
Emergency services and Ausgrid crews have been out in force, with more than 10 flood rescues and thousands of homes and businesses left without power.

Stay tuned for more updates as the storm continues.