The storm currently hitting metropolitan and rural NSW is the heaviest the state has seen in many years.

So far, we’ve seen a cruise ship, The Carnival Spirit, being halted at Sydney Heads, unable to enter the Harbour for safety reasons. The boat is stuck in choppy waters, and passengers are suffering from sea sickness. Ferry services have also stopped.



Twitter has been overwhelmed with images of areas affected by the storms:

MANLY: This driver’s dashcam captures the flooded roads in Sydney’s northern beaches. #SydneyStorms #9News pic.twitter.com/l2biHprJFO — Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) April 21, 2015



It has also been confirmed that three people have passed away in the rural NSW town of Dungog. One elderly woman and two elderly men were confirmed to be deceased after their homes were swept away, as reported by local news, The Dungog Chronicle.

A resident of Dungog posted devastating footage earlier today of a house being swept away in fast-moving flood waters. Roads and bridges have been washed away, power has been down, and mobile phone and landlines were unresponsive.



BOM:Sydney has picked up 100mm of rain over the last 12hrs but some areas in the Hunter have picked up those amounts in as little as an hour — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 21, 2015



In a press conference with Emergency Services Commissioner Adam Dent, Premier Mike Baird has urged people to head home from work before the storm gets worse, and to stay home:

Premier @mikebairdMP has urged people to start to head home from work, with weather conditions expected to worsen http://t.co/gLIVdpcQfk — smh.com.au (@smh) April 21, 2015

The Premier also said that the SES has currently fielded around 4500 calls to emergency services asking for assistance, and that there are three hospitals currently operating purely on backup power.

“There is three hospitals without power operating on the basis of backup. There are back-up generators running” @mikebairdMP says #nswstorms — Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 21, 2015

via 9 News

Image via Higgins Storm Chasing Facebook