A worsening flood crisis in New South Wales has led to evacuation orders for large parts of north-west Sydney ahead of more heavy rainfall expected today.
According to ABC News, the weather system that drenched the state’s north has been sitting off the Central Coast but is now heading onshore and is expected to make landfall later today.
In response, evacuation orders were issued this morning for flood-affected parts of the city with thousands of people living along the Hawkesbury River in Sydney’s north-west and Georges River in the south-west told to evacuate by 9am.
READ MORE: Flood crisis: Rescues in northern NSW resume, Queenslanders wait for waters to recede.
The SES said that 300,000 people are now under evacuation orders.
Many roads across Sydney also remained closed due to flooding, including the Bells Line of Road at North Richmond, the Yarramundi Bridge and Windsor Bridge.
More than 100mm of rain fell over parts of Western Sydney overnight and the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting that flooding along the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers could be worse than that seen this time last year.
Fatalities in the northern NSW disaster zone continue to mount, with four people confirmed to have died as of Wednesday night.
MORE INFORMATION: ABC News.
