SES receives 1,300 calls as city hopes for more rain

Parts of Sydney experienced another heavy downpour late Friday afternoon after a severe thunderstorm hit the city on Thursday, causing widespread damage and traffic chaos.

The Bureau of Meteorology recorded that Little Bay, to the east of the city, experienced 3mm of rain in the last half hour to 7.45pm, with the possibility of a shower along the northern beaches later in the evening.

“At this stage we do not believe the storm will be severe, although a storm could be moving north over Manly and skimming the northern beaches,” said Duty Meteorologist James Taylor.

Heavy rain lashed across most of the greater Sydney area on Thursday afternoon, causing landslides, cars being washed away by flood waters and people becoming stuck in buildings. The NSW SES had received more than 1,300 calls for help across the state in just 24 hours.

Most calls for help came from Sydney’s South, the Illawarra, the Northern Beaches, the Central Coast and the Hunter region. In the 24 hours to 5 a.m. Friday, there were 65 flood rescues.

From 9 a.m. Thursday to 9 a.m. Friday, Gosford recorded 64 millimeters of rain, while Bellambi recorded 116 millimeters of rain in Wollongong.

The storms also caused major power outages, with 7,000 people losing power on the Central Coast as of Thursday afternoon.

NSW SES Operations Coordinator Neil Whiblin confirmed that the Bureau had canceled all of its thunderstorm warnings.

However, temperatures are forecast to hit 30 degrees over the weekend and Whilbin said on Sunday there could be some isolated thunderstorms in the northeast of the state.