In Sydney’s inner west, the flood water arrived with a bang.
Tony Sleiman was serving a family in his Glebe cafe when heavy rainfall began lashing at the door at about 12.30pm on Monday. Just 20 minutes later, they were all stuck inside.
“They had a baby and a pram and were slowly creeping up towards the back of the cafe, [as the water rose],” the owner of Bruce Tea & Coffee says.
“Then they were trapped in here … until eventually they made a run for it.”
The severe weather system passed western Sydney late on Monday morning and hit the city about midday, prompting widespread flash flooding and warnings to stay indoors.
By mid-afternoon, the city had recorded 52.8mm of rain at Observatory Hill since 9am, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Horsley Park, 50km west of the city, had recorded 88mm.
Sleiman and his customers watched helplessly as his outdoor furniture floated down Bridge Road near the Fish Market, which was now completely engulfed in water.
“If we opened the door we would’ve been flooded even more, so I just thought, ‘I’ll let it go and get it later’,” he says.
“Any time it rains these days, I become concerned … it floods very easily and very quickly. We’re constantly knee-high in water and shovelling the drains.”
Then just as quickly as it arrived, the flood water receded.
After reaching more than a metre into his cafe, it had all trickled out within an hour and a half. Sleiman pressure-cleaned, hosed down the furniture, and by 4pm in his cafe, it looked “like it never happened”.
Craig, a local who did not wish to use his surname, was drinking at the Kauri Foreshore hotel down the road when the skies rapidly darkened and heavy rainfall arrived.
The mood had been high. Tradies working on the new Sydney Fish Market site were piled into the bistro eating lunch and watching the Super Bowl on their break.
Then they also got stranded inside – nobody able to get in or out of the pub as water lapped at the stairwell.
“The tradies told their boss they couldn’t get back, but they ended up taking their shoes off and wading over to the fish market,” Craig says.
“It was all over in a matter of minutes.”
By mid-afternoon, the rain had trickled to a patter. Drinkers were settling back in for the day, with the footpath that had been submerged in water now littered with large piles of leaves and debris.
Between noon and 2pm, the New South Wales State Emergency Service rescued 21 people from vehicles caught in flash flooding in the Sydney metropolitan area, a spokesperson said.
The downpour threw public transport into temporary chaos, shutting light rail services on the L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford lines, and causing delays on train lines due to flooding at Strathfield, 12km west of the city.
NSW Transport issued a wet weather alert to “take extra care” at stations and on trains, as Sydneysiders posted footage to social media of flood waters pouring down the stairwell into Town Hall station in the CBD, pooling by wet floor signs. It remained active on Monday evening.
Residents in more than a dozen suburbs across western and greater Sydney were urged to stay indoors by the NSW SES as the storm passed, including Bondi and Maroubra beaches, the CBD, Parramatta and Penrith.
By about 1.30pm, the warning had been downgraded, but SES advice remained to drive slowly and to stay clear of fallen trees, power lines and any damaged buildings.
“If [drivers] do come across a flooded road, just don’t take the risk,” an SES spokesperson said.
Sydney’s forecast for Tuesday is a high chance of showers and a possible thunderstorm, with up to 25mm of rain expected.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury said on Monday afternoon the risk had not passed yet, with heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail all threatening eastern parts of the state.
Residents on the south coast from Ulladulla to Merimbula were urged to stay indoors on Monday evening, with six-hourly rainfall totals of up to 150mm and life-threatening flash flooding possible to Tuesday afternoon.
– with Petra Stock
