More than 6,000 people have now been told they will evacuate the Hunter region and another 5,000 have been told they are preparing to leave their homes.
Cities along the Hunter River are today the main focus of emergency services, as the waterway is expected to reach more than 13 meters, which is worse than the March floods for the region.
A flooded football field in Singleton, in the NSW Hunter region. (9News) Many roads are closed in the inner cities of Newcastle. (9 News)
Suburbs like Wollombi, Bulga and Broke have already been cut off by flood waters.
A local pub in the region, the Wollombi Tavern, is just one of many businesses affected by the floodwaters after Wollombi Creek peaked at more than 14 meters this morning.
“Flooding is just an insidious thing,” publicist Chris Books said.
“You live in this area, it’s prone to flooding. The tavern is the center of Wollombi.
“We are a tourist town, without the tavern, we will not reach the tourists, without the tourists we will not exist.
“As soon as the water goes down, we can get beers out.”
People are on a flooded road in NSW Hunter. (9 News)
Parts of the north central coast of NSW have experienced 180 millimeters of rain in the last 24 hours.
“Yesterday we saw a lot of rain in the upper stretches of this basin and now they are making their way through the river system,” meteorologist Jane Golding said.
Golding warned that water levels around Tuggerah Lakes continue to rise with Long Jetty becoming an area of concern for flooding.
Neighbors have asked not to drive through the floodwaters
Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have called on people to stop driving through the flood waters.
“Time and time again, we see people driving through the flood waters,” Perrottet said.
“The perspective you have is different from reality.”
NSW Prime Minister Dominic Perrottet addresses the state’s flood crisis. (9 News)
“I reiterate the fact that people should listen to advice, don’t take risks, when asked to evacuate, make sure you do it exactly,” Albanese added.
Perrottet urged people not to assume that there is no need to follow other advice given about flooding.
“Just because you’ve had a flood in the past, it can be very different from today,” he said.
“So please don’t let your past experience inform your current behavior.”
An emergency vehicle blocks access to the flooded Windsor Bridge in Windsor on the outskirts of Sydney. (Photo AP / Mark Baker) (AP)
Flood payments begin tomorrow
“I am very pleased that the Commonwealth is cooperating so well with the New South Wales government,” Albanese said.
“It’s a perfect relationship we have, which is what people want to see at a time like this.”
Wildlife trying to keep its head out of the water in NSW floods
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says flood payments will begin tomorrow. (9 News)
Flood emergency is “far from over”
NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke has warned that the state’s flood disaster is far from over as the rain moves north.
“Rain is starting to decrease in Sydney and these flood waters are starting to recede,” he said.
But he said there are still many evacuation orders.
“While it can be tempting for people to come home, we really ask you to abide by these evacuation orders,” Cooke said.
“There’s a reason they’re in place right now and it’s to protect you.”
He also warned that heavier trees run the risk of falling with the soil completely soaked.
A woman is on a flooded street in Windsor. (Photo AP / Mark Baker) (AP)
Hundreds of flood rescues
State Emergency Service manager Ashley Sullivan said emergency response teams had done 100 overnight rescues of people trapped in cars on flooded roads or flooded homes in the Sydney area.
The ute got stuck in rising waters in South Windsor. (9 News)
“He said he only had six inches between the rising water and the roof and the pressure against the car door, he couldn’t open it,” test officer Lindsay Morgan said of the driver.
The flood waters had finally started to recede slowly in some parts of Sydney last night.
Many Sydney residents in the north-west and south-west of the city are now facing a huge clean-up.
Perrottet said evacuation orders and warnings had been issued to prepare 50,000 people to leave their homes across the city, up from 32,000 on Monday.
A man paddles his kayak down a flooded street in Windsor, on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, July 5, 2022. Hundreds of homes have been flooded in and around Australia’s largest city in an emergency ‘flood that affected 50,000 people, officials said. Tuesday. (Photo AP / Mark Baker) (AP)