Central Coast SES units received almost 600 requests for assistance between Thursday, April 4, and Sunday evening, April 7, as severe storms caused damage and flooding around the region.
Teams worked around the clock to clear all requests within 72 hours as they responded to 290 incidents of storm-related damage, 280 requests for sandbags, three flood rescues and one evacuation.
Teams from the Gosford and Wyong units were joined by volunteers from Cooranbong, Lake Macquarie, Swansea and Catherine Hill Bay units, with support also provided by the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Over the four days, 175 volunteers from the NSW SES and NSW Rural Fire Service contributed over 2500 hours to help the Central Coast community.
Central Coast Council provided in excess of 160 tonnes of sand which resulted in approximately 10,000 sandbags being available to the community.
As of Monday morning, April 8, the SES advised that flooding was still occurring around Tuggerah Lakes and on the lower Hawkesbury River.
Three flood warnings for Tuggerah Lakes were still in place – all at Advice level.
Residents of the lower Hawkesbury were warned that flood waters coming downstream will contain debris from upstream and may cause some low-level inundation.
They were advised to monitor the Live Traffic App for information on the closure of Wisemans Ferry Rd and stay in touch with the latest warnings and advices through the Hazards Near Me app.
An SES spokesperson said units were set to visit Spencer and Gunderman on Monday to conduct assessments.
They said reconnaissance would continue all over the Central Coast throughout the week.
“The current advice from the BOM is that Tuggerah Lake at Long Jetty is currently at 0.91 metres and steady, above the minor flood level (0.90 metres),” they said.
The SES said it was not expected that the lake level would rise further but it would continue to actively monitor gauges.