Residents told to evacuate as Warragamba Dam hits capacity

Parts of Sydney have been told to evacuate or prepare to leave as the city continues to face intense weather today and Warragamba Dam, which supplies Sydney’s drinking water, starts to spill after reaching full capacity.

The NSW State Emergency Service issued evacuation alerts on Saturday morning for residents living in all properties in the Pitt Town Bottoms suburb along Pitt Town Bottoms Road in the north-west of Sydney, near Windsor.

Low-lying parts of Chipping Norton were told to evacuate at 12.35am. Further alerts have been issued this morning for Chipping Norton as well as neighbouring Georges Hall. Other evacuation alerts have been issued for parts of Sackville and Cumberland Reach in the Hawkesbury area.

More than a month’s worth of rain fell over Sydney, Port Macquarie and Taree on Friday, delaying trains, cutting power and leading to evacuation alerts. Warragamba Dam hit capacity at 5.45am.

The NSW State Emergency Service was involved in 44 flood rescues by Saturday morning and had received more than 4000 calls in the last 24 hours.

But the Bureau of Meteorology warned isolated severe thunderstorms may redevelop on Saturday afternoon.

Up to 150 mm remained possible within a six-hour period for areas stretching from the Blue Mountains hundreds of kilometres to Narooma.

Numerous rivers – including the Hawkesbury, Nepean, Georges, Lower Hunter, Myall, Macquarie and Woronora – were on flood watch.

“With the forecast rainfall, further river level rises and moderate to major flooding is possible from Saturday morning along the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers,” the Bureau of Meteorology warned on Friday evening.