Almost 30,000 western Sydney residents will be allowed to return home today to begin the long process of yet another post-flood clean-up.
But the flood emergency is far from over, with more than 6000 people evacuated from the Hunter region and another 5000 preparing to leave at any moment.
Disaster payments will be available from today, and thousands are still under evacuation orders in Sydney’s north-west.
Extra defence personnel have been deployed in the state’s north, as the flood threat in the Hunter and on the Mid North Coast intensifies.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke on Wednesday warned the state’s flood disaster was far from over as the rain moved north, even as floodwaters began to recede in Sydney.
“Whilst it may be tempting for people to return home, we’re really asking you to respect those evacuation orders,” Cooke said.
“There’s a reason why they are in place at this time and that is to protect you.”
Residents in parts of Penrith, Windsor, Camden, Emu PLains, Chipping Norton and a handful of other suburbs had been given the all clear to return home if safe by Wednesday night but dozens of evacuation orders remained.
In the Hunter, suburbs including Wollombi, Bulga and Broke remain cut off by floodwaters as more towns are threatened by the disaster.
A local pub in the region, the Wollombi Tavern, is just one of the many businesses impacted by the floodwaters after the Wollombi Creek peaked at over 14 metres this morning.
“Floods are just an insidious thing,” Wollombi Tavern publican Chris Books said after the Wollombi Creek peaked at more than 14 metres on Wednesday morning.
“You live in this area, it is prone to flooding. The tavern is the hub of Wollombi.
“We are a tourist town, without the tavern, we won’t get the tourists, without the tourists we won’t exist.
“As soon as the water goes down, we can pull beers.”
The wider Singleton region was a major focus for emergency services overnight as the Bureau of Meteorology predicted a peak of 13.8 metres on the Hunter River.
Singleton State Emergency Service public information officer Simone Merrick said evacuation orders were current in several parts of the region and the SES had been helping out in Broke and Bulga.
She praised locals for heeding warnings to stay out of floodwaters.
“We just want to remind you that as the flood water does start to go down, you were not aware of the damage that it’s done to the road underneath it,” Merrick said, late on Wednesday, echoing warnings from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Dominic Perrottet.
“So please don’t become complacent and start to drive through this flood water as it can still be very dangerous, even if it’s not moving.”
Late on Wednesday, the bureau cancelled a severe weather warning that had been rolling up the NSW coast for days.
Parts of NSW Hunter region go underwater as floods move north
“A low pressure system is located offshore east of Port Macquarie,” it said. “The low is expected to shift further off the east coast through the remainder of tonight and during Thursday morning, with drier and more stable air developing in its wake.
“Severe weather is no longer occurring in NSW and the ACT.”