Storms, flood alerts for NSW regions as Sydney mops up

Sam McKeith and Alex Mitchell |

Emergency crews worked through the night after severe storms across Sydney and the Illawarra.
Emergency crews worked through the night after severe storms across Sydney and the Illawarra.

Parts of Australia’s east were under a severe weather warning late on Friday due to a threat of thunderstorms that could spark flash floods.

NSW emergency crews were busy early Friday after storms hit the Illawarra and Sydney, where the town of Appin became isolated and 50 crews were brought in to restore access.

In the state’s central west, there were 48 weather-related incidents overnight, including several large tree falls in the town of Wellington, causing road closures and property damage.

On Friday afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said a focus of the storm threat was now the NSW Riverina and far west.

Severe thunderstorms were likely to bring heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding later on Friday, it said on its website.

Emergency services respond to severe storms
Eastern states have been lashed by storms after suffering through a spring heatwave. (HANDOUT/NSW STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE)

Locations likely to be impacted included the towns of Griffith, Hay, Narrandera, Hillston, Darlington Point and Fowlers Gap, the bureau said.

In Queensland, a severe weather warning was in place on Friday for parts of the Gulf Country, Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, North West and Central West regions.

Moderate flood warnings were also active for the Moonie River and Warrego River, in the state’s southwest.

The warnings come after flash flooding hit the remote mining town of Mt Isa on Thursday, knocking out local bridges and forcing the extraction of vehicles from floodwater.

Bureau meteorologist Sarah Scully said Saturday would be the “peak day” for wild weather in the country’s east.

“We have a very large area across eastern Australia where thunderstorms are possible,” Ms Scully said.

Severe thunderstorms were possible “on and north of the Great Dividing Range of Victoria extending through NSW and eastern parts of Queensland”, she added.

Ms Scully predicted conditions to ease on Sunday when severe storms would likely be confined to northeast NSW and southeast Queensland.

Some impacted areas could expect rainfall totals above 100mm between Friday and Sunday, she added.

AAP