Overview
Sydney woke up to torrential rain and thunderstorms this morning as parts of the city copped more than a month's worth of rain in an hour. As a result, widespread road, train and light rail closures are being experienced across the city. In other words, it's, unfortunately, going to be a slow and wet commute to work this morning.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, West Pennant Hills was hit by 72.5mm in an hour, while Chatswood received 60mm.
The heavy rains have led to power outages across northern Sydney — with Ausgrid responding to 3500 customers across East Ryde, North Ryde and Marsfield — with flash flooding causing road, train and light rail closures and bus delays. Sydney Airport is also telling both domestic and international travellers to expect delays and cancellations, with the ABC reporting that the airport has closed two of its runways.
At time of publication, here's where the city's at with road closures and public transport delays:
- Buses across the city are delayed, with the inner west worst affected with wait times of up to 60 minutes
- Trains between Sydenham and Campsie, on T3, have resumed — after being suspended due to flooding in Marrickville — but delays are to be expected
- Ferries between Parramatta and Olympic Park have been cancelled, buses are being organised
- The Harbour Tunnel has reopened — after it closed earlier due to an overheight vehicle — but delays are expected as traffic returns to normal
- Anzac Bridge outbound lanes are closed due to flooding
- A number of train stations have flooded and have limited or no access for customers. These include: Town Hall, Pymble, Wollstonecraft, West Ryde, Eastwood and Lewisham
- All lanes of Parramatta Road have reopened — after closing earlier due to flooding — but traffic and delays are to be expected
- All light rail services between Dulwich Hill and Central have been cancelled due to flooding
The NSW State Emergency Service is urging motorists to avoid driving if possible and to not enter any flood waters, with flooding already affecting a number of roads across the city. The SES has responded to six flood rescues this morning since the rains begun.
The NSW SES, BOM and NSW Police are working together to provide warnings across Sydney for potentially dangerous conditions, flood waters and unsafe roads. For updates, keep an eye on the BOM website.
While it's expected to clear up by the weekend, we're not likely to see much reprieve from the rain today, with the BOM saying the rain's peak intensity will most likely be from mid morning and mid afternoon. This will likely impact your afternoon commute, too.
For the latest updates on traffic and public transport delays and closures, head to Live Traffic NSW and Transport for NSW's official Bus and Train Twitter accounts.
Image: NSW SES