Sydney braces for further flooding as major dam overflows

• Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding in Sydney, Australia, causing thousands to evacuate the city’s outskirts.
• The rain also led to the early spillover of the city’s main water supply, the Warragamba Dam, by two days.
•  Officials expect the dam’s water levels to peak by midnight on Saturday.

After torrential rainfall on Friday, authorities have warned that flood waters are expected to rise in Sydney, causing flash flooding in parts of Australia’s second-largest city. Heavy rain pounded parts of the city for 24 hours, forcing thousands to evacuate the city’s outskirts.

The rain also led to the early spillover of the city’s main water supply, the Warragamba Dam, by two days. Authorities have warned people living downstream of the dam to expect more floods.

The dam began spilling on Saturday morning and has been pumping the equivalent of 80,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools downstream every single hour since, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Officials expected the dam’s water levels to peak by midnight local time (13:00 GMT) on Saturday.However, authorities have warned some residents of further flood risks as most of the water from the dam has yet to reach Sydney’s flood-prone areas.

“We have been out with the community, letting them know what is coming and ensuring they prepare,” New South Wales State Emergency Service commissioner Carlene York told reporters.

“We don’t think those waters are affecting a significant amount of people in those areas but certainly rural farmland, stock and families and businesses… need to be aware of the next couple of days as the water will continue to flow down at a high level in those river systems.”

The expected rise in water levels in the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers in the coming days is anticipated. WaterNSW CEO Andrew George mentioned water spillage from other dams, including the Tallowa Dam on the Shoalhaven River and the Blue Mountains Dam.He mentioned that they expected spillages from three other metropolitan dams. The storm caused a month’s worth of rain to pummel Sydney on Friday, prompting authorities to issue emergency evacuation warnings for many of the city’s low-lying areas, including Richmond and Windsor.

“While it looks like blue skies across Sydney at the moment and the emergency rain situation seems to be easing… it is important to note that flood levels in some of the rivers, particularly in western Sydney, are continuing to rise and that presents a danger for some communities,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told reporters on Saturday.

The New South Wales State Emergency Service reported rescuing more than 150 people from floods on Saturday, with 72 rescues occurring in Sydney.

New South Wales police discovered one man dead in water near a reserve in Penrith, in Sydney’s west, on Saturday. It remains unclear whether his death was related to the storm.

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