Widespread heavy rain has led to dangerous flash flooding in parts of NSW as more people are told to evacuate from rising waters that have left some towns isolated.
Flash flooding also hit Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula on Monday, with residents were warned to stay indoors amid a sudden downpour.
The NSW State Emergency Service said it had responded to 33 flood rescues and 462 requests for help in the 24 hours to Monday morning.
In extraordinary footage posted to Twitter, floodwaters were so rapid in the NSW historic town of Molong that a shipping container was floating down the main street.
The Bureau of Meteorology had earlier cancelled severe thunderstorm warnings for NSW and Victoria. It said the immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, but the situation would be monitored and further warnings issued if necessary.
The warnings had previously encompassed the NSW mid-north coast, the Hunter, the central tablelands, the north-west slopes and plains, the central-west slopes and plains, upper western and northern tablelands districts.
Warnings were cancelled for Victoria’s East Gippsland, northern country, north-central and north-east forecast districts.
Flood rescues
The SES said a rescue was underway early Monday for a man trapped in his car in the central-western town of Alectown.
He called for help just before 4am.
Meanwhile, people in low-lying parts of the central-western town of Canowindra were urged to evacuate immediately because of high river levels and dangerous flash flooding.
An evacuation centre has opened at the local public school after the town had 99 millimetres of rain in just six hours overnight.
Molong, in the central tablelands near Orange, was completely isolated by floodwaters on Monday, with flash flooding making it too dangerous to evacuate. The SES warned people in Molong’s low-lying areas to move to higher ground.
An evacuation centre was opened at the RSL club, while an Australian Defence Force helicopter was sent to help rescue people trapped in floods and help with medical retrievals.
In the southern NSW border town of Albury, the SES was called to rescue two children playing in a stormwater drain on Sunday, while at the central-western town of Woodstock, it helped rescue people from six vehicles after a bridge was washed away.
SES assistant commissioner Nicole Hogan said flooding would continue to affect multiple communities in inland NSW this week.
The Lachlan River was rising at Forbes and the SES continued to support the community as people there recovered from the recent inundation, she said.
The SES has delivered supplies of food, medicine and animal feed to residents cut off by floodwaters since severe weather began in mid-September, and carried out 500 flood rescues.
Commissioner Carlene York said the volunteer workforce was fatigued and personnel had been requested from other states.
Flooding continues across western and southern NSW, in towns including Collarenebri, Walgett, Bourke, Condobolin, Hay and Albury.
Victoria
In Victoria a watch and act alert was issued for Mount Martha, Mornington, Hastings and Dromana on Monday morning as heavy rainfall caused localised flash flooding and building damage.
Residents were told to stay inside and away from floodwaters as the severe thunderstorm hit.
Victoria SES chief officer Tim Wiebusch said on Monday volunteers responded to more than 400 calls for help, most early in the morning as storm cells moved across the state.
He said the Mount Martha and Mornington areas were hit with 40-50 millimetres of rain in a few hours and there had been 23 flood rescues in those regions.
“A range of the rescues this morning have been people attempting to drive through flash flood waters but also [people] seeing water levels rise around their houses very, very quickly,” he told ABC TV.
Mr Wiebusch said there had also been significant downpours in Victoria’s north-east overnight, including 60-70 millimetres of rain in some areas.
There was major flooding at the Murray River in Albury-Wodonga, which was expected to flow downstream to Yarrawonga and Tocumwal as more rain fell.
Mr Wiebusch said flash flooding was expected to turn into major riverine flooding in coming days as already saturated catchments felt the impact of the extra water.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of central and north-east Victoria on Sunday, including for Rutherglen where 28 millimetres of rain fell in just half an hour during the afternoon.
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