What flood warning? Kids (and adults) make the most of the wild weather as they turn floodwaters into a giant slip-and-slide – but it’s more dangerous than it looks
- Kids turned their flooded park in Newcastle into a muddy slip-and-slide
- University students at UNSW swam through their flooded oval this weekend
- Runner who was at Sydney’s Centennial Parklands performed freestyle in water
- Much of New South Wales has flooded as state endures once-in-a-century storm
Kids and adults are taking to flooded streets, parks and reserves and turning them into makeshift slip-and-slide swimming pools.
Footage emerged of locals making the best of a bad situation by splashing around in the puddles
Students at the University of New South Wales created a makeshift swimming pool on a campus lawn which had flooded.
Some held swimming races while others danced in the rain – knee deep in murky brown water.
In Newcastle, young children were seen slipping and sliding down a makeshift ramp on a washed out park
Students at the University of New South Wales created a makeshift swimming pool on a campus lawn which had flooded
Meanwhile in Newcastle, young children were seen slipping and sliding down a makeshift ramp on a washed out park.
The boys were covered head to toe in mud as they each came down the ramp face first on their stomachs.
Sydney’s Centennial Parklands were so flooded by Sunday morning that adults were able to swim laps through the grounds.
Video shows one woman performing freestyle through the muddy water as others watched on in shock.
‘They can cancel ParkRun, but they can’t cancel ParkSwim,’ one person said.
The young boys were covered head to toe in mud as they each came down the ramp face first on their stomachs
Some held swimming races while others danced in the rain – knee deep in murky brown water
New South Wales Premier Glayds Berejiklian said the NSW mid north coast, which was worst hit on Saturday and overnight, is enduring a once-in-a-century storm, while regions in western Sydney haven’t seen rainfall this severe in 50 years.
‘We were hoping it would only be a one in 20-year event. It looks like it will actually be a one in 50-year event,’ Ms Berejiklian said of conditions in the Hawkesbury Valley on Sunday.
Emergency services have now identified the Hawkesbury Valley and western Sydney as the highest risk zones in the coming days. Ms Berejiklian anticipated 4,000 homes in the region could be evacuated.
‘It’s the sustained rainfall, the fact that weather event has settled in, it’s not moving,’ she said.
The group from Newcastle turned their local park into a slip and slide
The young boys were covered head to toe in mud as they each came down the ramp face first on their stomachs.
Cars are seen driving through floodwater in Richmond, NSW, Sunday, March 21
One woman was spotted swimming in Centennial Parklands in Sydney after it flooded
‘We cannot underestimate the ferocity of these weather conditions. We have gone from extreme bushfire to extreme flood.’
Parents in the hardest hit regions will likely have to keep their children home from school tomorrow and employees are urged to work from home where possible.
David Elliott, the Minister for Police and Emergency Services, detailed 74 flood rescues which took place overnight – including many in which people had ‘unnecessarily’ put themselves in danger.
‘Motorists need to know that, statistically, we’re moving inevitably closer to a fatality,’ he said.
‘This is the wrong time of year to be taking risks… With the damage that’s been done across the road network a fatality is getting more and more likely… . I’m horrified to think there are unnecessary flood rescues going on.’
State Premier Gladys Berejiklian held an emergency conference on Sunday to beg residents to play it safe and reiterate how ‘serious and severe this weather is’