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A severe weather warning has been issued for Sydney and much of New South Wales as another evacuation is ordered in a flood-struck Riverina town.
The State Emergency Services has asked people in Deniliquin to leave their homes by Wednesday.
Adding to the town’s woes, damaging westerly winds are expected on Monday and could reach up to 90km/h.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for much of the state’s south, including Sydney and the Illawarra, Riverina, Snowy Mountains and ACT regions.
Damaging westerly winds averaging 50 to 70km/h with peak gusts in excess of 90km/h are likely across elevated parts and also eastwards to the coast and across the Goulburn region.
For the remainder of the warning area, including Sydney’s metropolitan area and Canberra, damaging gusts in excess of 90km/h are possible.
Showers or thunderstorms are also predicted across the Riverina and southwest slopes.
In the 24 hours until Monday morning, the SES received 617 calls for help, and conducted three flood rescues.
There are 102 warnings in place in the state, 16 of which are at emergency level.
The SES said it was focused on Forbes, Condobolin, Euabalong, Eugowra, Walgett, Bourke, Hay, Albury, Echuca, Mildura, Wentworth, Deniliquin, Wee Waa and Moulamein.
Many of the calls for help on the weekend were in response to damage caused by high winds, including roofs flying off and fallen trees and powerlines.
Meteorologist Jonathan How said the cold and windy conditions were unusual late in spring and urged people to listen to warnings and stay away from trees.
“With the winds, because everything is so wet, we are expecting to see trees and even powerlines topple more easily today,” he told ABC TV on Monday.
“The winds will continue into tonight and possibly even into tomorrow morning as well. By tomorrow, we should see some of the strongest winds start to ease off.”
The flood risk remains in central western towns but no significant rain was expected in saturated catchments this week.
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In Forbes moderate flooding continues but the real concern this week is downstream at Condobolin, where the Lachlan River is expected to peak on Wednesday.
Authorities are keeping a close eye on the three kilometre levee around Condobolin’s CBD which SES Chief Superintendent Dallas Burns says is expected to hold up to the current peak.
The SES was working closely with local councils to ensure levees were maintained.
“Obviously with this flooding coming up and down so often over the past months there is quite a bit of damage happening to those levees just from erosion, so that’s something we’re very concerned about,” he told ABC TV.
As floodwaters recede in Forbes, the town is transitioning to the recovery stage with Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke saying damage assessments are being conducted, with the aim of allowing some people to return to their homes.
ADF troops are helping with sandbagging and the cleaning out of homes, although some parts of the town remain waterlogged.
Of 400 damage assessments completed so far by the SES, half of the properties had been marked as “damaged”.
As the peak moves downstream, Cooke said already isolated communities were bracing for severe water level rises.
“Our thoughts are with those communities,” she said.
“We know that you’re going through a hard time and will continue to stand with you throughout the response and the recovery phase.”
To support communities, nine recovery assistance points were opened this week including in include Eugowra, Orange, Parkes, Gunnedah, Cudal, Wagga Wagga, Narrabri and Moree.
The multi-agency hubs are designed to help flood-impacted individuals, families, farmers and business owners begin the clean-up, rebuilding and recovery process.
