Severe storms wreaked havoc on the Central Coast on Tuesday, February 22, as roads and homes flooded and motorists were left stranded.
Gosford SES Unit commander Rolf Garda said well over 100mm of rain fell in the West Gosford, East Gosford, Erina, Narara area, with more than 100 calls for help received.
“A lot of water came down and most of our calls were for trees down, leaking roofs and collapsed ceilings,” he said.
“Anyone low lying was calling for sandbags.
“When you get this much rain, water runs down the hills and comes up from the gutters.”
Garda said much of the emergency work had been carried out on Tuesday night, with assistance from the RFS and Fire and Rescue NSW, with another dozen calls or so received on Wednesday morning.
“We had sandbags available from our Erina depot and a lot of people came there to collect them,” he said.
“We are encouraging people to self-help as much as possible; sandbags can easily be placed in doorways and driveways to help keep the water out as much as possible.”
Garda said the Gosford Unit pt out calls for assistance from the Hunter and beyond.
“We had units come from Port Stephens, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and Swansea,” he said.
“They sent what help they could, but they were also worried about storms in their own area.”
Garda said the worst of the storm hit at around 8am, with many roads quickly going underwater.
“The roads were horrendous; West Gosford went under and it created a huge gridlock,” he said.
“Luckily we didn’t have to cross that area, with most of our calls the other side of West Gosford.
“A few streets in East Gosford were impacted, but they were mostly side streets and didn’t impact us too much.”
Garda said freak storms appeared to be becoming more frequent.
“Once, you would expect one or two east coast lows a year- around Easter and June – but now we are getting these summer storm cells coming up on the radar with very little warning,” he said.
With rain predicted for most of the week, Garda said he thought the Coast had seen the worst of it.
“I don’t think we’ll get the same severity of storm we saw on Tuesday,” he said.
Advice from SES during heavy storms includes: keep clear of creeks and storm drains; don’t walk, ride your bike or drive through flood water; if trapped by flash flooding, seek refuge in the highest available place and ring 000 if you need rescue; unplug computers and appliances; avoid using the phone during the storm; stay indoors away from windows, and keep children and pets indoors as well.
For emergency help in floods and storms, ring the SES (NSW and ACT) on 132 500.
Terry Collins