People in New South Wales are being moved to safety and alerted about emergencies due to strong rain and winds impacting the east coast

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Hundreds of homes are flooded or have been evacuated, and thousands of people are without power as a complex, wild storm lashes Australia’s east coast.

Gale-force winds and heavy rain downed trees, damaged properties and flooded roads from southern NSW to the mid-north coast, including Sydney on Tuesday evening.

About 200 properties in Burrill Lake on the south coast were flooded overnight, while more than 200mm of rain smashed several towns, including Morton and Ulladulla.

Emergency crews had a busy workload overnight, pulling off seven flood rescues on the NSW south coast, all caused by people driving into floodwaters.

A 55-year-old man was taken to hospital with serious head and torso injuries after a tree fell and crushed his truck in Moss Vale, in the southern highlands.

Police, paramedics and emergency crews extracted the unconscious man from the driver’s cabin of his truck at 10.30pm on Tuesday.

Communities stretching from Queensland’s Lockyer Valley to Bega on NSW’s south coast are still being warned to take care as severe weather driven by a “vigorous” coastal low lingers offshore.

The storm was expected to track south on Wednesday before turning back out into the Tasman Sea on Thursday.

‘Not out of the woods yet’

NSW SES deputy commissioner Debbie Platz told a press conference on Wednesday that flash flooding remains a key concern, particularly in the Sydney, Illawarra and south coast areas.

“There is a lot of debris on the roads. Trees have fallen, powerlines are down. The roads are also very slippery. There have been multiple car crashes, and we’re asking people to please take care on the roads,” she said.

“The majority of incidents that we have attended to overnight have been for fallen trees and power lines, and damage to property and vehicles.”

Rescue workers direct traffic at night wearing reflective clothing.

The NSW State Emergency Service has urged people to take care on roads. Source: AAP / NSW State Emergency Services

Platz said as the situation “does start to calm” in some areas: “I remind everybody we’re not out of the woods yet.”

“This complex weather system is still impacting parts of Newcastle, Sydney, the Illawarra and the south coast of New South Wales down past Bega.”

What can we expect today?

Platz said heavy rainfall will continue, with falls in the “50 to 100mm, and [in] some pockets up to 120mm is possible”.

She said damaging winds will also continue, with 60 to 70 km/h gusts possible, and potentially up to 100 km/h in some areas around the south coast and mid-north coast, including the Sydney metropolitan area.

Minor to moderate flooding is also possible in several areas, and Platz advised monitoring conditions and following flood warnings.

Rescue workers are cleaning up storm damage near a fallen tree.

The majority of incidents overnight involved fallen trees, powerlines and damaged property and vehicles. Source: AAP / NSW State Emergency Service

“This system is a more dynamic and fast-moving system than any of the recent rain events we have seen across New South Wales,” she said.

Platz said the situation will start to ease as the system moves south and east on Thursday.

Flights cancelled, thousands without power

There are 34 active warnings, including seven emergency warnings. You can view current warnings on the NSW SES website.

NSW SES crews have responded to more than 2,800 incidents since severe weather conditions started, as the low shifted southwards from Newcastle toward Sydney, the Illawarra and the south coast.

A person looking on as a large swell hits the coast.

The Illawarra and south coast areas have been hit hard by wild weather. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins

The state operations centre had received more than 2,390 calls for assistance in the 24 hours to 9.3am Wednesday, Platz said.

More than 37,000 homes and businesses are without power, and many flights have been cancelled from Sydney Airport for the second consecutive day.

Transport NSW advised people to avoid non-essential travel on Sydney and intercity trains on Wednesday morning, and to be prepared for disruptions to public transport.

Another low-pressure system to enter on Wednesday

The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting another low-pressure system to enter the storm’s path later on Wednesday.

“We see another low-pressure system, really dumb-belling around that first one, that will really intensify and reinforce some of those winds and rain across the south coast,” senior meteorologist Jonathan How said.

The system extends approximately 5km into the sky, with two low-pressure systems interacting with each other in a phenomenon known to meteorologists as the Fujiwhara effect.

Andrew Dowdy, associate professor and weather phenomena expert at The University of Melbourne, said: “It is very rare to see two east coast lows spiralling around each other like this.”