Rain bomb brings severe weather to NSW: What you need to know

By CAITLIN POWELL FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA and MATT JONES

Published: 22:08 BST, 22 May 2025 | Updated: 23:09 BST, 22 May 2025

Heavy rain which fuelled deadly and devastating flooding along Australia’s east coast is moving south, leaving behind flooded communities to deal with a massive mop-up.

A slow-moving trough which delivered intense rain will bring further heavy falls to parts of the NSW Hunter region, Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands, extending further south throughout Friday morning.

Three people have been confirmed dead as a result of the floods in the Hunter region and mid-north coast.

Here’s everything you need to know as the rain bomb strikes.

Fourth person dead as severe weather continues

A man’s body has been found in a car in floodwaters near Coffs Harbour this morning.

A passing motorist saw a vehicle about 4.30am today which had run off Orara Way at Nana Glen, about 30km from Coffs Harbour, NSW Police said.

Officers and SES members attended the scene and found the body of a man in his 70s, who has yet to be formally identified.

He appeared to be the only occupant.

More than 50,000 people cut off

There are still 50,000 people isolated as a result of the catastrophic flooding affecting Australians across New South Wales.

At least 9,000 residents are also covered by current evacuation advice warnings, SES superintendent Dallas Byrnes told ABC News Breakfast.

‘We’ve seen some drop off in these river heights. However, we are concerned that they may re-rise again with further rainfall into the hinterland and ranges area.

‘That will top off these already-saturated catchments so we’re expecting another busy day.’

He said 678 flood rescues had been made as of this morning, with more expected.

‘People still are driving into floodwaters, which is really concerning, incredibly dangerous,’ he said.

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines told the ABC areas affected by flooding would see ‘much less rainfall’ from Friday.

‘In fact, no rainfall across most areas which are still experiencing significant major flooding.’

The rain has been forecast as moving south, which is expected to mean wet conditions will begin easing across northern areas of the Mid North Coast, Mr Hines said.

‘A big change finally after four days, where the weather pattern had not budged, and that’s why we saw so much rain in the same areas.

‘Yesterday, that band of rain slid southward and really stretched across a large part of NSW.’

Meteorologists are forecasting severe weather for today in the Southern Hunter, Blue Mountains, and Southern Highlands.

Meanwhile, residents in Newcastle and the Central Coast are being urged to stay indoors due to heavy rainfall.

Key rainfall totals between 9am Thursday and 4am this morning:

179mm at Richmond Airport

• 176mm at Robertson
• 161mm at Macquarie Pass
• 150mm at Mandalong (Lake Macquarie)
• 146mm at Newcastle TAFE
• 135mm at Wattamolla
• 130mm at Wentworth Falls

Polar blast expected to strike on Monday

A polar blast originating in Antarctica is headed towards southeastern Australia, set to freeze millions of Aussies.

Weatherzone meteorologist Anthony Sharwood warned the cold front is likely to hit on Monday.

The system is expected to deliver rain, wild winds and potentially heavy snowfalls to alpine regions in Tasmania, Victoria, southern NSW and the ACT.

While those in Australia’s southeast may feel prepared having shivered through a cold front last weekend, which delivered centimetres of snow to ski resorts, Mr Sharwood warned next week’s will be more intense.

‘The coming system looks to be stronger, colder, longer-lasting and wetter with the potential for heavy precipitation in a broad arc extending roughly from Adelaide to the ACT,’ he said.

‘This is the sort of cold front that snow lovers dream about in midwinter, let alone in May.

‘The chart above shows how frigid air is expected to push northwards from well south of Tasmania early next week. The cold air should reach SE Australia on Monday along with plenty of moisture.’

Snow could fall down to 400m in Tasmania’s mountains.

‘In terms of systems of this calibre in May, the predicted set-up is reminiscent of the famous May 28-30 cold outbreak way back in the year 2000, when a metre of snow fell at the ski resorts and an NRL game at Canberra Stadium was played on a field that was white with settled snow,’ Mr Sharwood said.

‘That’s not to suggest that the system will be quite that cold, or that snow will settle across Canberra, but brief snow flurries down as low as Canberra’s elevation – around 600m – appear possible at this stage, with the snow level closer to 400m in Tasmania.’

Significant rain is forecast for large parts of Victoria and southern SA.

‘Estimating precise rainfall totals a few days out from a weather event is difficult to do with confidence, however widespread falls of at least 10mm or more are likely in the areas mentioned,’ Mr Sharwood said.

‘While this system is highly unlikely to be a drought-breaker, many locations will see their heaviest falls to date in 2025.’

Strong and potentially damaging winds are also set to affect alpine areas and exposed coastal weather stations in Victoria and Tasmania as the arctic air mass pushes northward.

Warragamba dam nears overflow as heavy rain lashes Sydney

The SES has warned Sydney’s Warragamba Dam is reaching capacity as heavy rainfall batters the state.

The dam, which is the main water supply source for the city, was at 96 per cent on Thursday and might start overflowing later this morning.

Communities downstream have been told to follow the latest emergency advice and flood warnings.

The emergency service said the Nepean Dam has already spilled, Nine reported.

Why has there been so much rain this week?

The main drivers behind this week’s heavy rainfall over eastern NSW were a near-stationary low pressure trough interacting with a stagnant pool of cold upper-level air and a relentless stream of moisture-laden winds.

However, there were a several unique characteristics about this weather event that resulted in colossal rainfall and devastating flooding:

• A broad pool of cold upper-level air has been lingering over NSW since the start of this week. This cold air aloft provided what meteorologists refer to as upper-level forcing, which deepened a low pressure trough near the surface and enhanced convection (clouds forming in rising air) over eastern NSW.
• The low pressure trough hardly moved over the space of four days, which caused heavy rain to remain focussed on the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions for a prolonged period.
• The onshore winds feeding the rain this week have extended through a deep layer of the atmosphere, which provided copious fuel for rain-bearing clouds.
• Above average sea surface temperatures in the Tasman Sea provided extra atmospheric moisture, increasing how much water was in the sky to fall as rain.
• The landscape across eastern NSW was already wet before this week’s rain arrived, which exacerbated the extent and severity of flooding.
• Source: Weatherzone

Supermarkets stripped bare as rain bomb strikes

Supermarkets that remain open have had shelves stripped bare by shoppers fearing they’re next to be cut off.

At Laurieton, south of Port Macquarie, where minor flooding is occurring along the Camden Haven River, the bread shelves were empty at Coles.

‘We are keeping a close eye on the evolving situation in NSW, and most of our stores remain open with plenty of food and supplies,’ a Coles spokesman told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Our Wingham and Kempsey stores have had to unfortunately close at this stage, and we will reopen these as soon as it is safe to do so.’

‘Our teams are working hard to ensure we have extra food deliveries on their way to our stores, so our communities can be rest assured that we will continue to serve them as long as it’s safe to do so.’

‘These will remain closed until further notice,’ a spokesman said.

But the Woolworths at Taree remains open, as Australia’s biggest supermarket chain keeps all of its supermarkets open between Newcastle and Port Macquarie.

‘Deliveries of essential grocery items continue to travel to most of the impacted communities along the coast,’ the spokesman added.

‘However, customers will find reduced product availability in our Taree and Gloucester stores due to a number of road closures.

‘With a number of communities along the mid north coast remaining on flood watch, we’re continuing to closely monitor conditions and the advice of authorities to ensure the safety of our team and customers.’

Port Macquarie local David Lazarus said getting a loaf of bread at his local Bakers Delight was a challenge as the floodwaters stopped staff from coming into work.

‘I’ve noticed today that when we buy some bread at the Bakers Delight – they’ve closed because they can’t get staff,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Their staff are isolated where they live. Not only can’t you get a loaf of bread, there’s no one to serve you the loaf of bread because there’s so many businesses that actually shut their doors.

‘It’s really affecting a lot of people – all businesses in Port Macquarie.’

Photos show flooding devastation

An aerial photo shows flooding at Settlement Point Road in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Thursday

An aerial photo shows NSW Fire Rescue personnel assisting an elderly resident during flooding in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Thursday.

Deadly floods ongoing as threatening rain moves south

Heavy rain which fuelled deadly and devastating flooding along Australia’s east coast is moving south, leaving behind flooded communities to deal with a massive mop-up.

A slow-moving trough which delivered intense rain will bring further heavy falls to parts of the NSW Hunter region, Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands, extending further south throughout Friday morning.

Three people have been confirmed dead as a result of the floods in the Hunter region and mid-north coast.

Many more have been rescued after entering floodwaters.

A police officer driving a sedan was travelling with a 60-year-old woman in a 4WD when they came across water over a road near Dorrigo on Wednesday night, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said.

The officer checked the water level which was ‘ankle deep’ and told the woman he was not continuing, advising her to be cautious and not enter floodwaters.

The woman phoned the officer 30 minutes later saying she was in trouble about 17km away, Mr Waddell said.

She was found dead inside the 4WD on Thursday.

‘We’re just encouraging people, please do not enter these floodwaters,’ Mr Waddell said.

‘It is a really dangerous once-in-a-lifetime event and there’s been some tragedies … obviously the police officer who spoke to the woman is very traumatised.’

A 63-year-old man’s body was earlier found on a flooded home’s verandah at Moto.

The body of a man believed to be in his 30s was found in floodwaters west of Port Macquarie on Wednesday.

There are grave fears for another man who remains missing.

All of the deaths will be reviewed by the coroner.

Heavy falls potentially totalling 150mm in 24 hours could bring flash flooding at Goulburn and south to Bega, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.

Disaster assistance from the state and commonwealth governments has been expanded, with 19 areas now eligible for support.

Specialist disaster lawyers would provide free advice about rejected insurance claims, housing issues and assistance grants, Legal Aid NSW said.

Additional emergency services personnel were travelling from Victoria to assist on Thursday night.

Australian National University flood researcher Mahdi Sedighkia said the latest floods should prompt a rethink in disaster management to mitigate future events.

‘We are clearly witnessing a marked increase in both the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, highlighting the urgent need to reassess how we understand and manage flood risks,’ Dr Sedighkia said.

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Rain bomb brings severe weather to NSW: What you need to know

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