Key Points
- The weather system that had inundated parts of NSW is expected to clear the state by Saturday.
- Flood impacts will remain for several days after the rain clears, BoM says.
- Damaging winds are forecasted to hit the state from Monday.
Heavy rain in NSW is easing, the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) says, but the state could soon face damaging — and possibly destructive — winds.
The system that has inundated the state's mid-north coast and Hunter regions is moving south, with severe weather stretching from the south of Wollongong, 85km south of Sydney, to the Victorian border.
Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at BoM, said on Friday the weather system was expected to clear the state by midnight but could dump between 60 to 100mm of rain over the warning area as it moves through.
Flood impacts will remain for several days after the rain clears, he said.
Clear conditions are forecast for the weekend before an expected "powerful windy cold front" on Monday that would bring "damaging and possibly destructive winds" across most of NSW, as well as parts of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and southern Queensland.
"The focus for New South Wales will be that the land is ... extremely saturated after the rainfall," Hines told the ABC.
"So if we see those strong winds, when you get those strong winds onto soggy soil, that's when trees can come down; so there is definitely a potential for tree damage, tree falls, power outages and damages to houses, properties and cars."
He said this was forecast for Monday and Tuesday, and would subside by Wednesday.
Five people have been found dead amid the floods and about 50,000 people have been left isolated across the mid-north coast and Hunter regions. The current NSW SES warning can be found here.
The weather system moved south on Friday. Source: AAP / Dean Lewins
To those under evacuation orders, he said: "Please be patient, do not return home until you're informed it is safe to do so."
Earlier, NSW SES deputy commissioner Damien Johnston said those returning to homes that had been inundated should be aware of the "many risks that come with floodwaters", including contaminants, snakes, vermin, and electrical hazards.
The SES has responded to more than 6,500 incidents and performed over 730 rescues.
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Friday paid tribute to those who have died and thanked the emergency service workers.
"We mourn the people that have passed, but it's important to say without the SES, without the volunteers, we would have had hundreds of deaths, and we're in deep, deep gratitude to those people who volunteered their time or work for emergency services."
