NSW weather live: Warragamba Dam set to spill over as Sydney residents urged to stay home amid flooding, heavy rain

10.54pm EDT 22:54

There are reports of damaged homes across Sydney’s west.

More than 30 homes have been damaged in the suburb of Chester Hill, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.

Meanwhile the State Emergency Services has performed two flood rescues they were called out to in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Here is a photo of the banks of the Parramatta River, at a ferry stop.

The swollen Parramatta River is seen overflowing as the state of New South Wales experiences heavy rains, in Sydney, Australia, March 20, 2021. Photograph: Dan Peled/Reuters

Updated at 10.58pm EDT

10.34pm EDT 22:34

Here is another angle of the Manning River at Taree, where, as we reported earlier, a house has been seen floating away.

10.18pm EDT 22:18

We’re expecting the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, and the emergency services minister, David Elliott, to hold a press conference at 3pm from the Bankstown State Emergency Service unit. The SES commissioner, Carlene York, will also provide an update.

I’ll bring you the latest from that when it happens.

Updated at 10.49pm EDT

9.50pm EDT 21:50

Extraordinary scenes have been recorded across the New South Wales mid north coast today, including this of a house being swept away near Taree.

It’s especially concerning given reports that some residents in the area have been living from their cars in recent times, according to Margaret Hope, the owner of the Bellingen Riverside Cottages, who was interviewed on the ABC.

She said:

We’re very high, on the high side of the river. So we’re fortunate. But some places are really having to evacuate. It’s been a little bit tough on those people.

And unfortunately we’ve got a lot of people who are living in their cars at the moment due to accommodation, a lack of rent, and so those people have been suffering quite a bit in this weather.

She also said that people in Bellingen were currently unable to cross the bridge connecting the town.

Updated at 9.56pm EDT

9.40pm EDT 21:40

The Bureau of Meteorology’s senior climatologist, Agata Imielska, also announced some rainfall records had been broken in the past day.

She said for the mid north coast and Hunter region, rainfall had broken previous March records by as much as 200mm.

Imielska said:

To give you context of the rainfall, we have seen 405mm recorded at Kendall. So that’s a record heaviest rainfall that we’ve seen. Also 371mm at Red Oak.

And it’s not just the total rainfall amount, it’s also how quickly and intensely that rainfall has actually fallen. So we had 160mm fall in just three hours at Kindee bridge that resulted in also a record river height at that particular location.

Updated at 9.55pm EDT

9.30pm EDT 21:30

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam set to spill over

Sydney’s Warragamba Dam is set to spill over this afternoon and combine with river flows to potentially cause flooding across western Sydney.

The Bureau of Meteorology national flood services manager, Justin Robinson, delivered the warning at a press conference in Sydney just now. I’ll share the updates from that over a few posts here.

Robinson said that once the Warragamba Dam spills over, it could lead to minor flooding in Sydney’s west, specifically at Penrith and North Richmond, later today, which could develop into major flooding overnight as river levels continue to rise.

Robinson said:

It’s a very dynamic and evolving flood situation and we could see some very deep and rapid responding rivers with very high levels.

He noted there are very heavy rainfall predictions for the lower Blue Mountains area, which could contribute to the situation. The area is expected to get 100mm of rain this afternoon, but it could be as much as 200-300mm.

BoM’s senior climatologist, Agata Imielska, said “the heaviest falls are expected over the lower Blue Mountains, where we are likely to see 200-300mm”, noting this could contribute to the situation in western Sydney.

Updated at 10.22pm EDT

9.19pm EDT 21:19

One metre of rain in a week possible, says BoM

A new band of rain is headed for flood-hit NSW and is expected to push rainfall totals in some places to one metre in the space of just a week.

The Bureau of Meteorology says eastern NSW is in for a double whammy, AAP reports.

A new band of rain moving down from the Kimberley in Western Australia will push through central Australia on Sunday.

On Monday it will pass over outback southern Queensland into northern NSW, where it will link up with the slow moving coastal trough that’s already caused widespread flooding on the east coast.

BoM meteorologist Jonathan How says it’s not yet clear where the rain band will dump the heaviest falls because they’ll be generated by hard-to-predict storm activity.

But he says eastern NSW is definitely in the firing line, when the band and the trough come together.

“That’s when we’ll see a very large burst of rain, across eastern NSW, dipping into north-eastern Victoria and south-east Queensland from Monday night, into Tuesday,” he says.

The first dry day for NSW is not expected until Wednesday.

How says some NSW locations, particularly around the Port Macquarie area, have already recorded 500-600mm of rain in the past 48 hours or so.

“By Monday or Tuesday, it’s not unreasonable that some places will possibly be poking one metre of rain for the whole event,” he says of the rain, which began in earnest on Wednesday.

Updated at 9.27pm EDT

9.08pm EDT 21:08

My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes has filed this report on the wild weather battering New South Wales.

Here’s what we know so far about the floods and evacuations:

8.46pm EDT 20:46

There are some remarkable images coming out of Port Macquarie this morning:

8.29pm EDT 20:29

Evacuation orders issued for multiple areas

New South Wales’ State Emergency Service has issued evacuation orders for low-lying properties in these areas:

Evacuation centres have been set up for residents of these areas at the following locations:

It’s important to be aware of the difficulty in travelling between some areas. The Pacific Highway remains closed in both directions between Coopernook and Glenthorne, while the northbound lanes are closed at Moorland between Hannam Vale Road and Jericho Road.

The Oxley Highway between Mount Seaview and Walcha remains closed in both directions following a landslide.

Detailed explanations of each evacuation order can be read on the NSW SES website: www.ses.nsw.gov.au

The Public Information and Inquiry Centre can be contacted by calling 1800 227 228.

Updated at 8.59pm EDT

8.20pm EDT 20:20

‘Life-threatening’ downpour

Welcome to our live coverage of the rain and floods across New South Wales today.

I’m Elias Visontay, and I’ll be bringing you updates from a sodden Sydney. If you see anything you think I should know about, you can email me at elias.visontay@theguardian.com.

Please get in touch with any stories or pictures you have of how this weather is affecting you today, wherever you are. Tweet me pictures of what you’re seeing @EliasVisontay. Stay safe.

My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes has already filed this report about the “potentially life-threatening” downpour that has flooded rivers and triggered evacuations along the NSW coast.

The weather is battering Sydney, with up to 150mm of rain expected to hit the city, and residents have been urged to stay home.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the deluge would be “substantially heavier” than the strong rain that has plagued Sydney for most of the week.

A severe weather warning was issued on Saturday, covering an area from the mid north coast to the far south coast of NSW as well as Canberra.

The BoM said there was intense rainfall “potentially leading to life-threatening flash flooding” and damaging winds averaging 60-70km/h with gusts exceeding 90km/h.

It said strong winds may generate damaging surf, with significant wave heights of five metres in the surf zone bringing potential for coastal erosion.

You can read more here:

Updated at 9.00pm EDT