A Sydney train station is underwater after severe weather battered Australia’s east coast, forcing the cancellation of the city’s popular Vivid Festival.
Trains through Lewisham Station, in the west of the city, were halted for more than an hour on Saturday afternoon as heavy rain left the underground platforms completely flooded.
Commuters were seen walking out of the station barefoot with baskets full of clothes as the fire brigade was called to the scene.
Meanwhile, the city’s Vivid Light festival was canceled on Saturday evening.
“Due to the severe weather, tonight’s Vivid Light Walk, Tumbalong Nights at Tumbalong Park, the Vivid Fire Kitchen at The Goods Line and the Lightscape experience at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney have been cancelled,” the event wrote to X.
“Other Vivid Sydney activities, including music, food and ideas events, will continue as planned.”
In Moore Park, in Sydney’s east, SES teams had to be called in to steer cars through flooded roads.
Little Bay, in the city’s south-east, received 76mm of rain since 9am on Saturday morning, while Cronulla was drenched with 92mm.
Sydney’s Lewisham train station was closed for more than an hour on Saturday as heavy rain drenched the city
Commuters were seen walking out of the station barefoot with baskets full of clothes as the fire brigade was called to the scene.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts a 5,000km cloud band will continue its journey eastwards in the coming days and will have rained on 90 per cent of the country by Sunday.
Marrickville Golf Club received 65mm, while 59mm of rain fell in North Ryde since Saturday morning.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for metropolitan Sydney just before 8pm on Saturday.
‘A developing offshore low pressure system, combined with an upper trough, is creating humid and unstable conditions along parts of Sydney’s coast. Heavy rainfall is likely across the coast,” the Bureau of Meteorology warned.
“Intense thunderstorms are likely to produce heavy rainfall that could lead to flash flooding in the warning area in the coming hours.”
More rain is expected in Sydney on Sunday, with forecasts of up to 20mm.
It comes as a 5,000 kilometer band of rain moves across Australia’s east coast, bringing torrential rain and damaging winds.
The cloud band has passed over every state and territory this week, delivering more than 100mm of rain on Thursday and Friday mornings alone.
A cyclist is seen riding through flooded roads in Moore Park, in Sydney’s east
Roads were flooded near the Entertainment Quarter in Sydney’s Moore Park on Saturday
On Saturday we saw cars plowing through flooded roads in Sydney
A huge rainstorm hit much of Sydney on Saturday
NSW, the ACT, inland Queensland and parts of the Northern Territory were hardest hit another low pressure system lashed Tasmania with showers, damaging winds, thunderstorms and even snow.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts the cloud band will continue its journey eastwards in the coming days, bringing rain to 90 per cent of the country by Sunday.
“It will continue to track eastwards into south-eastern parts of Queensland on Saturday, while patchy rain and showers will continue across eastern parts of NSW,” senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said.
“On Saturday evening that low will develop off the coast of New Zealand and as we approach Sunday it will start to move eastwards and wrap really moist air inshore there.”
The cloud band passed over every state and territory, bringing more than 100mm of rain on Thursday and Friday mornings alone
SES crews were called to Moore Park where water on the road reached the car windscreens to direct traffic
Ms Scully warned it would be ‘another wet weekend ahead for eastern parts of NSW’, but could not say exactly where the worst of the weather would be.
“The heaviest rain and strongest winds are highly dependent on the position, movement and proximity of the lowland to the coast,” she said.
‘If the low remains somewhat offshore then coastal impacts will be limited over the period, but if the low is expected to move closer to the coast the forecast could be upgraded to include an east coast low to state.
“The low is expected to move southwards towards eastern Vic and the east coast of Tasmania early next week.”
The Warragamba Dam in the west of the city is currently at 98 per cent capacity and is expected to overflow in the coming days.
There are currently no flood warnings but an SES spokesperson confirmed units were on standby.
Vivid Festival organizers said the majority of events were canceled because ‘public safety is Vivid’s top priority’
Western Australia has also experienced severe weather.
A warning has been issued for heavy rainfall and damaging destructive winds along the central west coast to the south-west coast. A cold front will bring severe weather to the West Coast late Saturday.
The BOM warns that the heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding along the South West District from late afternoon, with rainfall expected to range from 50 to 70mm.
Damaging winds of between 60 and 70 km/h are possible along the South West District and are expected to spread into the Lower West and Central West Districts on Saturday afternoon.
The BOM is also warning residents of destructive winds peaking at 125 kilometers per hour from late Saturday to early Sunday, which could cause significant damage to homes and property.
Locations that could be affected include Bunbury, Busselton, Geraldton, Kalbarri, Mandurah, Manjimup, Margaret River and Perth.
In Tasmania, a minor flood warning has been issued at Corra Linn as total rainfall of 20-70mm was recorded across the North Esk River in the past 24 hours.
The river at Corra Linn is currently 1.95 meters high and rising, just below minor flood level.
Meanwhile, in Victoria, a minor flood warning has been issued for the Seven Creeks.
To the north in Queensland, a sea wind warning remains in effect for the waters of the Gold Coast, with a strong wind warning for the South East Gulf of Carpentaria and the North East Gulf of Carpentaria for Sunday.
