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Huge downpours caused flash flooding across the city as a month’s worth of rain hit. Around 48mm of rain was dumped in an hour, more than all of January, with another 50mm expected tonight. Roads turned to rivers and motorists were warned not to drive as firefighters rescued people from the floods.

Traffic has been thrown into chaos and light rail services cancelled because of the deluge. Weatherzone’s Sam Terry said a second thunderstorm and more flash floods are likely in the next 24 hours. It is thought the rain will hit during evening rush hour causing chaos for commuters.

Sydney Weather: Severe storms batter city causing flash flooding Mon, February 6, 2017 Severe thunderstorms with heavy falls hit the city, in what media reported as the heaviest rain in six months in Sydney, Australia. Play slideshow Twitter 1 of 7

Weather stations say the rainfall has made it the wettest day in Sydney since August 4, 2016. Around 48mm of rain fell in Marrickville, 45mm in Canterbury and 35mm in Sydney. Observatory Hill had a total of 51mm in a matter of hours, with 35mm falling within an hour. Residents in a Marrickville apartment block were evacuated over fears the building would collapse after a waterhole overflowed with water. In total, 17 residents were moved out of the building as engineers rushed in to check the foundations as heavy rain washed away parts of the ground. The administrator of the Inner West Council Richard Pearson said: ”Obviously we need to have a more thorough look into the reasons why this happened in order to prevent it happening again in the future.”

TWITTER Roads turned to rivers and motorists were warned not to drive

EPA Walkers brave the rain

TWITTER Floodwater threatens to wash away tables and chairs

It's concerning for us that people are putting themselves in danger. We just want them to stay out of floodwaters State Emergency Service

The residents were later given the all-clear to return. State Emergency Service rescued 13 people trapped in the floods in Marrickville, Alexandria and Zetland and received 135 reports of roofs caving in, homes being flooded and cars trapped in rising floodwater. A spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service said: “All of those rescues have involved people caught in their cars in floodwater. “The water did rise quite rapidly we had quite a downpour over a matter of hours really, causing roads to flood quite quickly. “It's concerning for us that people are putting themselves in danger. We just want them to stay out of floodwaters."

EPA/ TWITTER Heavy thunderstorms have battered Sydney causing flash flooding

TWITTER A roof of a house collapsed as 48mm of rain battered the region

EPA A woman walks through the heavy rain in Sydney

REUTERS Police stand outside an apartment block after it was evacuated following heavy rains in Marrickville

Around 2,000 homes and bossiness have been left without power as almost 2,500 lightning strikes hit near Sydney Airport. Airport officials said operations are running as normal but there could be delays later today. A number of flights were diverted to Melbourne and Canberra as several flights were forced to circle the airport until it was safe to land. Traffic came to a standstill on the Anzac Bridge as flooding gripped the city. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has forecast a near 100 per cent chance of rain in Sydney tonight.

Extreme weather: Most dramatic photos ever Wed, August 2, 2017 The weather across the world is getting wilder and weirder, causing chaos, death and destruction around the globe. Play slideshow Caters News Agency 1 of 96 These frightening photos of lightning from a hurricane above Miami, Florida in the USA were taken after the storm left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean.