Community News
Latest Flood Peaks Information
Sadly we have still not reached the peak, in fact, a lot further from it than originally thought. Levels continue to rise along the Hawkesbury River, especially at Windsor and downstream where the “bathtub” effect is starting to become very evident where water is flowing into the valley faster than it can escape, causing it to back up. The Colo River is falling but still very high, as is the Macdonald river which further exacerbates the situation.
In light of this, Windsor will now exceed the August 1990 (13.5m) and February 1956 (13.84m) flood peaks moving this event to the 4th largest flood in living memory (there were higher floods in the 1800s so it will be #9 on the “all recorded history” list)!
The latest BoM warning places the predicted level now just below the 1978 flood event (14.46m) at 14.3m.
Highest living memory flood levels at Windsor:
#1 – Nov 1961 – 14.95m
#2 – Jun 1964 – 14.57m
#3 – Mar 1978 – 14.46m
#4 – Mar 2022 – 14.30m??**
#5 – Feb 1956 – 13.84m
#6 – Aug 1990 – 13.50m
*Predicted
Downstream at Sackville, Lower Portland and Wisemans Ferry levels also continue to inch upwards deepening the already major flooding.
Back up at North Richmond, the river appears to have steadied just under 14m as the Grose river continues to fall but BoM suggests it may hit 14.2m. River levels in the Nepean and Upper Nepean also appear to have peaked and are beginning to fall.
Rainfall is starting to decline as the east coast low begins to move offshore but there are still some light to moderate falls tonight south of us over the catchment area which will keep things “topped up” for a while longer.
Please monitor SES website and social media messages for any evacuation warnings or orders that may impact you. We are not a government-sponsored or endorsed page so while we try our absolute best to give you accurate information and predictions please do not take any unnecessary risks, particularly with the wind that is expected to pick up overnight and potentially down trees and power lines.
Hopefully, we have some better news about falling levels tomorrow and when we might see the bridges again but at this stage its unlikely any bridge will be open to traffic until early next week.
Photo credit: Paul Caleo
