NSW weather: Residents told to prepare for more flooding as forecasters warn of rain

Updated

New South Wales residents living near swollen waterways have been advised to stock up on essentials as forecasters warn flooding could isolate parts of the state later this week.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) is closely monitoring activity off the northern NSW coast after computer modelling showed a new low pressure system could form in coming days.

A similar system was blamed for last week's wild storms in the Hunter, central coast, Illawarra and Sydney regions, which caused destructive flooding, cut power to more than 200,000 properties and led to four deaths.

The bureau is forecasting rain to return from Thursday, with the mid-north coast and northern rivers regions likely to receive the heaviest falls, and showers and storms also expected in Sydney.

"With many of our rivers still swollen and creek catchment areas saturated it won't take a lot of rain to see these rivers and creeks rise again, leading to localised flooding," the State Emergency Service's (SES) Hawkesbury unit warned in a social media post.

"Residents who live in areas isolated by last week's rains should ensure they have enough supplies, including foods, baby formula and medications in case they again become isolated."

The bureau's manager of NSW weather services, Andrew Treloar, said the current modelling suggests Sydney is "likely to be on the fringe" of the weather event.

"However, we're alert to the possibility of the low pressure system progressing further south over the weekend," Mr Treloar said.

The warning came as the head of the flood recovery effort on the Hunter and central coast prepared to tour areas affected by last week's storms.

Brigadier Darren Naumann, who retired from the army last month after 34 years of service, was yesterday named regional recovery coordinator by Premier Mike Baird.

Floodwaters have begun to recede around Hunter communities such as Hinton and Wollombi, and people have been allowed to leave under the chaperone of road authorities.

The SES said 25 properties at Wollombi/Laguna were likely to remain isolated until tomorrow morning, and 50 properties at Woodville, north-east of Maitland, will probably be cut off for another two to three days.

At Torryburn, further north, 40 people and 200 animals can expect to be cut of for another three weeks, the SES said.

One of the main roads into Gillieston Heights has reopened, after locals were forced to use boats to ferry in vital supplies, dubbing their isolated town Gilligan's Island.

The SES's Greg Murphy said residents would now be able to begin to get their lives in order.

"Motorists from Gillieston Heights will be able to get back to work after several days of isolation, so they'll all be breathing a sigh of relief," he said.

The SES received 20,159 jobs between the start of the weather event last Monday and 9:00am today, with 3,252 jobs still outstanding.

Topics: weather, floods, storm-disaster, sydney-2000, dungog-2420, maitland-2320, newcastle-2300, gosford-2250

First posted