SYDNEY – A landslide impacted three houses in northern Sydney as life-threatening flash flooding prompted evacuation orders on Saturday night.
Residents of the Narrabeen Lagoon area in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, around 19 km north of the central business district, were told to evacuate shortly before 11 pm local time Saturday due to rising floodwaters caused by storms that brought intense rainfall.
The State Emergency Service (SES) said on Sunday morning that authorities had rescued 25 people trapped in floodwaters across , many of whom were in Sydney.
Three properties at Great Mackerel Beach, an isolated outpost on the northern beaches, were impacted when heavy rain caused a landslide.
The Bureau of Meteorology weather station at Terrey Hill in the Northern Beaches received 179.6 millimeters of rain in the 24 hours to 9 am local time on Sunday, surpassing the 46.6 millimeters it recorded for the entirety of December.
The SES said it responded to over 1,400 incidents, including 743 in the Sydney area, and authorities have warned that heavy rainfall is expected to continue north of Sydney on Sunday.