More incredible images have emerged of the widespread devastation and havoc caused by the one-in-50-year superstorm battering the east coast of Australia.
Streets were transformed into rivers of floating debris, submerged excavators and cars were abandoned, and kangaroos swam through flooded backyards trying to reach higher ground.
Dead fish washed up in children’s playgrounds while cows ended up on beaches and front porches.
Flooded rivers in Sydney’s west and north-west peaked to their highest levels in 60 years on Monday as Warragamba Dam spills enough water to fill Sydney Harbour every 24 hours for a third day in a row.
A kangaroo was spotted swimming through a flooded backyard in Emu Heights near Penrith
This excavator was abandoned in a flooded Windsor Streets with its warning lights still flashing
In a nearby street in Windsor (pictured), businesses were submerged in floodwaters and surrounded by floating debris from the swollen Hawkesbury River
Dozens of dead fish from the swollen Nepean River washed up at Tench Reserve in Jamisontown near Penrith
Moderate to major flood warnings were issued for the Hawkesbury, Nepean, and the Colo Rivers as dozens of homes in Penrith, North Richmond, Windsor and Sackville were inundated with water, sparking mass evacuations.
The NSW mid-north coast was also inundated with more flooding, just days after towns were cut off.
The swollen Hawkesbury River is expected to peak late on Monday, where widespread damage has already been caused.
The streets of Windsor and nearby North Richmond transformed into massive swimming pools, inundating homes and businesses.
An abandoned excavator engulfed in floodwaters in Windsor was spotted with its warning lights still flashing.
Nearby businesses were inundated with water surrounded by floating debris.
In nearby North Richmond, a herd of cows stuck in a flooded field were rescued by a group of heroes from a local Facebook group.
A jet ski and a tinny ferried two men to the flooded field where they herded the cows to shore.
Nine of the ten 10 cows made it to safety while the other died while being stranded.
This herd of cows were safely moved to higher ground after they were rescued from North Richmond
A group of locals were a tinnie and jet ski (pictured) to save the stranded herd of cows
The heroic community cow rescue on Terrace Road, North Richmond was described as daring
Resident William Potter described the dramatic rescue as daring.
‘The rescue took half an hour. If the cows had stayed any longer or were further from the shore, I’m certain they some may have drowned,’ he told the Daily Telegraph.
The flooding has attracted a large gathering of curious residents to the new Windsor Bridge, which was built to ‘cope with higher levels of flooding’ which was swamped by water as the Hawkesbury River swelled to unprecedented levels.
There were similar scenes 23 kilometres down the road in Penrith where dozens of dead fish from the Nepean River washed up into waterfront parks and children’s playgrounds.
Harrowing footage has also emerged of a kangaroo swimming through a flooded backyard in a desperate mission to safety in nearby Emu Heights.
Residents living in streets submerged in floodwaters used kayaks and canoes to get around while in the rural outskirts in Wallacia, kids enjoyed a day off school as they entertained themselves by being sprayed by water from passing vehicles.
Dogs in carriers are transported to safety by SES personnel in inflatable boats in western Sydney on Monday
These sheep have been left stranded along the banks of a flooded Hawkesbury River
Around 18,000 residents had been evacuated amid fears up to 54,000 could be displaced with rain forecast to continue until Wednesday.
The wild weather is not forecast to stop until Wednesday around Sydney and on the mid-north coast, and not until Thursday on the north coast in Byron Bay and south-east Queensland.
Hundreds of flood rescues have been conducted by the SES since the weather last Thursday, and each one brings the state closer to an ‘inevitable fatality’, Emergency Services Minister David Elliott warned.
More than 200 schools across the state shut their doors on Monday and bus and train services have been cancelled due to the fast-evolving situation.
A lone cow stands outside the back door of a home as NSW was hit by a 100-year super storm bringing torrential rain and heavy flooding
Surf Life Savers had a rescue of a different kind on the weekend when they had to save a cow that had became stranded on a beach near Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast
A dead fish is seen on the edge of a semi-submerged child’s playground on the banks of the flooded Nepean River at Tench Reserve at Penrith, Sydney’s west
The Tench Reserve playground was semi-submerged in water as the Nepean River flooded after Warragamba Dam spilled over after days of torrential rain
The Tench Reserve playground is pictured semi-submerged in water as parts of Penrith and other areas along the Nepean were ordered to evacuate after days of unabated rain
The new Windsor Bridge, which was constructed to ‘cope with higher levels of flooding’, was swamped with water due to a swollen Hawkesbury River
A Macarthur-bound train was stopped in its tracks after the rail corridor was inundated with water
The Windsor Leagues Club, in Sydney’s northwest, was closed on Monday after the area was flooded
The home ground of the rugby league team Windsor Wolves was inundated with water on Monday as heavy rain battered the region
Workers at the the Windsor Leagues Club are pictured during heavy flooding to the area on Monday
Children react as they are sprayed with water while motorists commute on a road in Wallacia, nearby Warragamba Dam, in Sydney’s west on Sunday
Children standing alongside a road in Wallacia, Sydney’s west, were sprayed with water as a car drove along a road that had been inundated with water
Nellie’s Cafe in Kendall, near Port Macquarie, was inundated with floods as the Camden Haven River burst its banks
Cafe owner Janelle Nosworthy has been forced to beg locals to help fund the restoration costs, as her comprehensive insurance does not cover floods
An 80-year-old driver was rescued by police after their car became half-submerged in water at Wyong, on the New South Wales Central Coast on Sunday
A photo posted to Facebook of spiders inundated a home in Macksville, on the NSW north coast, after the area was hit by raging floodwaters
Flooding in NSW has forced spiders to also reach for higher ground, with stunning pictures showing them clinging to fences as a torrent of water rages below
Parts of Penrith and other areas along the Nepean River were ordered to evacuate on Sunday afternoon.
Scores of people have been rescued from floodwaters, while prison inmates have been evacuated and more than 100 schools remain shut.
Those saved include an 80-year-old woman who became trapped in her car at Wyong on the Central Coast on Sunday.
Police spotted the half-submerged car while attending to another incident nearby and realised the driver was still inside.
An officer waded out into the waters on foot and freed the woman before the car was pushed by the fast-moving waters into the nearby Wyong River.
Members of the NSW SES Ryde unit saved a five-month-old baby from raging floodwaters in Londonderry, Sydney’s west on Sunday night
A resident and his dog are brought to safety by a State Emergency Service rescue team in the midst of widespread flooding in Sydney’s west
Heavy flooding in Schofields, Sydney’s northwest, over the weekend left cows standing in puddles of water
People ride their bikes through a flooded park on the banks of Nepean River in Penrith, Sydney’s west, on Sunday afternoon
A petrol station at Port Macquarie, on the New South Wales north coast, was closed after the area was hit by severe flooding
NSW SES volunteers rescued six cows from floodwaters at Nowra, on the New South Wales south coast
At Londonderry, in Sydney’s west, a five-month-old baby was rescued alongside a child, four adults and three dogs, in what as described as a ‘challenging’ operation to bring the family to safety.
A photo showing the infant wrapped in the arms of a SES volunteer was posted to Facebook, alongside the caption ‘It doesn’t get much better for a volunteer than saving a beautiful baby boy’.
‘With his mum’s permission, we are very proud to share a photo of this little tacker in the arms of a NSW SES Ryde Unit volunteer. The challenging but successful Londonderry rescue saved the five-month-old infant, a child, four adults and three dogs,’ the Western Sydney SES posted.
A beloved cafe where locals commiserated after the disappearance of William Tyrrell was completely destroyed by floodwaters.
Miss Nellie’s Cafe, in Kendall, a small rural town south of Port Macquarie, was flooded up to the roof after the Camden Haven River burst its banks in the early hours of Saturday morning.
There is very little left of the 100-year-old building with entire walls ripped off and the owners may not get any money back from their insurer.
An excavator on a washed out job site was submerged in floodwaters on Sunday morning in the Sutherland Shire, south of Sydney
A luxury home in Newcastle, north of Sydney, is teetering on the edge of a cliff after a landslide caused the ground beneath it to collapse
Sydneysiders captured footage of themselves swimming in Centennial Park after three days of torrential rain turned the greenspace into a lake
Patrons at a pub in Telegraph Point, in northern NSW, appeared unfazed while enjoying a beer while standing in thigh-high water on Saturday night
A woman in a kayak captured a video of herself lifting the cow’s head so it could breathe as floodwaters continued to rise in Port Macquarie
Much of the mid-north coast remain underwater as communities still recover from the black summer bushfires and the impacts of Covid-19.
Port Macquarie restaurateur Nathan Tomkins says the past few days have been a nightmare rollercoaster.
After record flooding at the Hastings River over the weekend, Mr Tomkins’ restaurant was inundated with neck-high water.
After surveying the damage on Sunday he says the venture he’s spent 24 years building is in ruins.
‘The water just went right through and just destroyed everything. There is nothing left,’ he told ABC on Monday.
‘This is just like a nightmare, it really is. I’ve got so many friends and family members that are just hurting at the moment from all this, who have lost their homes, lost their cars, lost their businesses.’
The nightmare isn’t over yet either, with much of the mid-north coast bracing for more flooding on Monday.
‘I’m feeling like I’m on a roller-coaster. I woke up this morning and I just pinch myself to go, ‘Okay, this is not real’. But it’s real,’ he said.
Hundreds of homes have been damaged, including one filmed floating down the Manning River in Taree.
Police have begged motorists not to drive on roads that are submerged by floodwaters.
In Port Macquarie, a lone man could be seen wading through water as he made his way down Short Street on Saturday afternoon
Warragamba Dam in Sydney’s west – the city’s main water supply – spilled over after the city was hit by heavy rain
A car was pictured left stuck in raging floodwaters at the Audley Weir in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney
This entire street near the Paterson river in Hinton, in the NSW Hunter region, was underwater after heavy rain lashed the region
BOM’s Agata Imielska said the severity of rainfall in greater Sydney would ease on Monday but the mid-north coast would continue to be drenched and inland NSW would be pounded by rain.
She said the NSW northwest slopes and plains would receive four times more rain in two days than the entire March monthly average.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said up to 38 parts of the state had been declared natural disaster areas.
‘I don´t know any time in our state´s history where we have had these extreme weather conditions in such quick succession in the middle of a pandemic,’ Berejiklian told reporters on Monday.
‘So, they are challenging times for New South Wales.’
