An abandoned Audi with the words ‘help me’ inscribed on the driver’s side door has been found in rising floodwaters on the outskirts of Sydney – as water laps at homes on a million-dollar street and an ‘exhausted’ alpaca is rescued.
Londonderry in Sydney’s west – where sprawling estates sell for upwards of $4million – is experiencing moderate flooding, but locals expect conditions to deteriorate further.
Residents are all too familiar with the reality of floods. Many homes were damaged in the March 2021 deluge and in 2016 before that.
‘The poor buggers, it’s happening all over again,’ Richmond local Sarah Jones told Daily Mail Australia.
‘Last year the water was higher, but it seems to be moving faster this time around. I don’t want to imagine what it will look like later tonight.’
The abandoned luxury Audi Q3 was found on the side of the road in Londonderry, in Sydney’s west, with ‘help’ scribbled into the dirt on the driver’s side
Locals said the driver got bogged in flood water and mud and had to flee the vehicle
Many local schools in Sydney’s west were closed on Thursday. Kids seen walking their bikes through floodwater
An alpaca was winched to safety after getting trapped in flood water at Llandilo, in Sydney’s north west
An Audi was abandoned in the middle of the flooded Carrington Road. On the driver’s side door, the word ‘help’ had been written in the dust on the car.
Nearby, council workers were loading sandbags into the cars of the few residents who chose to ignore earlier evacuation warnings.
‘Most people left last night or this morning,’ council employee Steve said.
‘It’s been pretty quiet here today, doesn’t seem like there’s too many people left.’
Meanwhile, young children still relished in the days off school, unconcerned by rising waters in the streets.
More than 250 schools were closed on Thursday morning and drivers told to take ‘extreme care’ due to dangerous conditions and fallen trees.
Council workers furiously loading sandbags onto a ute as they try and get homes protected before the worst of the rain hits on Thursday
Volunteers help with sand bagging efforts in Sydney’s west
Two teenagers dragged their bikes through knee-deep water in the heavy rain, undeterred by warnings to stay at home.
They stopped only to peak through a neighbour’s fence, where water was lapping at the back door with a tinny at the ready.
The concern for many longtime residents is whether the whole suburb will become waterlocked. Already, there’s limited access to neighbouring Richmond or Windsor.
North Richmond has been experiencing major flooding since early Thursday morning and there is no access via the Richmond Bridge.
In nearby Llandilo, an ‘exhausted’ alpaca was pulled from rising and muddied floodwaters.
Floodwater seen lapping homes in Londonderry in Sydney’s north west
Homes in Sydney’s north west were hit by similar floods exactly a year ago
A richmond shed surrounded by water on Thursday, as locals prepare for more deluge to come
Locals were desperately searching for the owner, who is understood to have been forced out of their property, which was flooded overnight in the deluge.
‘He’s very tired and in desperate need of a shear [but] we think this is what may have saved him as he isn’t drenched to the skin,’ his rescuers said.
Many streets in Richmond’s lowlands are already under water, but there are concerns the worst is yet to come with forecasters predicting further heavy rainfall overnight and into Friday.
Severe weather warnings are in place for a huge area spanning the NSW Mid-North Coast to the South Coast covering Newcastle, Gosford, Wollongong, Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
A man makes his way through flood water in Sydney’s north west on a paddle board
Floodwater surrounding a children’s playground in South Windsor in Sydney’s north west on Thursday
Thousands of residents in Sydney’s north-west and south-west were ordered to leave their homes by 3am last night or risk being trapped by rising floodwaters with hundreds of thousands more then told to get out by 9am.
Half a million people across the state are currently subject to evacuation orders or warnings, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet.
‘Things will get worse before they get better here in our state,’ he said on Thursday.
‘We do expect particularly in the Hawkesbury region that the floods will be worse than they were last year.
The March 2021 floods in the Hawkesbury were the worst in 60 years.
The Hawkesbury region under water with local roads flooded
Low lying parts of the Hawkesbury district were told to get out by 9am Thursday, including Cattai, North Richmond, South Maroota, Yarramundi, Windsor, Shanes Park, Riverstone and Londonderry.
‘Once floodwater reaches 13.23m at Windsor, the area will be isolated,’ an alert read.
‘If you remain in the area after 9am you may be trapped without power, water and other essential services, and it may be too dangerous to rescue you.’
The Hawkesbury River at the Windsor Bridge is expected to reach 14m on Thursday night, well above levels recorded 12 months ago.
The river is expected to peak at 15m at North Richmond while the Nepean River is tipped to rise to nine metres at Penrith.
It is the second time in 12 months the Hawkesbury region in Sydney’s north west has been flooded
