An apartment building has been evacuated over concerns about its stability, after a severe thunderstorm and heavy rain sparked flash flooding across parts of Sydney.
The deluge, accompanied by high winds, swamped pavements in the city, caused part of a house to collapse in Tennyson Point and washed a car down the street in Bondi. Within minutes of the storm breaking the State Emergency Service (SES) said it was called to seven flood rescues, with four more added later in the day.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning after 11am on Tuesday for areas stretching from Hornsby down to the city and airport. It said the slow-moving storm was heading east and damaging winds were likely. Radar images showed a fresh band of rain moving in towards the city.
BOM New South Wales (@BOM_NSW)One hour rainfall totals: #Marrickville 48mm, #Canterbury 45mm, and 35mm at #Sydney #ObsHill. https://t.co/OeLBp0OdFW #SydneyStorm pic.twitter.com/UMEX0rNhbC
February 7, 2017
In just one hour 48mm of rainfall fell in Marrickville, leading to the evacuation of an apartment building on Ewart Street that appeared at risk of collapse. SES volunteers who attended the incident said about 100 people were inside.
Peter Moss (@petemoss_au)#Emergency Services and media in Ewart St #Marrickville. Apartment block reported in danger of collapse after heavy rain pic.twitter.com/sSyy0hhCio
February 7, 2017
A spokeswoman for Fire and Rescue NSW said the unit backed onto a “natural ravine” that had started to wash away due to the volume of rainfall, and a council engineer on site had had concerns about its stability.
The building was evacuated as a precaution and the emergency services were monitoring for any movement. Fire & Rescue’s Urban Search & Rescue Unit was also on the way.
Earlier on Tuesday, part of a house collapsed in Tennyson Point, bringing down power lines, but no one was inside and there were no injures, NSW Fire and Rescue reported.
Tiffiny Genders (@tiffgenders)Heavy rain triggers collapse of old weatherboard home at Tennyson Point. #SydneyStorm updates across the afternoon on @9NewsSyd ☔️ pic.twitter.com/TsgeeegjJS
February 7, 2017
Fire & Rescue NSW (@FRNSW)TENNYSON POINT | UPDATE: Front of house collapsed. Crews entered back of home & checked no one inside. All clear. Power disconnected.
February 7, 2017
Footage of the deluge from an intersection in Redfern showed cars struggling to make it through floodwaters.
Georgia Eldridge (@Georgieeldridge)
Flooding in #Redfern #sydneyweather 💥 @SBS @weatherchannel pic.twitter.com/ZoB8DZeJeE
February 6, 2017
Another clip of the same intersection showed a low-slung Maserati stranded in the flooding.
Fleur Mitchell (@flossisboss)
Maserati stuck on Redfern Street in Redfern #sydneyweather pic.twitter.com/9CjD9U8IM6
February 7, 2017
Darrin Beckinsale (@dbeckinsa)
#SydneyWeather Bondi Junction flooding pic.twitter.com/LGDwJiUWmJ
February 7, 2017
Water spilled on to the pavement of the business district in Double Bay, according to videos shared on Twitter, while cars battled through small waves at the junction of Flood Street and Parramatta Road in Leichhardt.
ABC Sydney (@abcsydney)
Flooding on Flood Street and Parramatta Road, Leichhardt.#Sydney #SydneyStorm Video by Anwyn Cochrane pic.twitter.com/qadP3bBomC
February 7, 2017
Sydney airport travellers were advised to check with their airlines about any disruptions, while light rail services were cancelled between Dulwich Hill and Central due to flooding.
In the Bureau’s detailed severe thunderstorm warning, the SES advised Sydney residents to ensure their cars were under cover or away from trees, and to steer clear of floodwaters.
The Bureau tweeted that Canterbury had had 30mm of rain in 30 minutes.
BOM New South Wales (@BOM_NSW)This is a bit different to #SydneyWeather yesterday. #Canterbury has had 30mm of rain in past half hour. Pic taken in soggy #SurryHills. pic.twitter.com/C4tmZCaMEj
February 6, 2017
Most of the flood rescue calls came from the inner suburbs of Alexandria and Zetland.
Light rail commuter Andrea Plawutsky had been travelling towards Central station when her journey came to an abrupt halt.
She and fellow passengers waited in the carriage for five minutes at Chinatown before being told they had to get out because the driver could not go any further.
Rubbish bins were floating down the street outside, Plawutsky said. She ended up running through the rain barefoot. “The water was halfway up my shins when I got off,” she said.
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