A state of natural disaster has been declared for 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in New South Wales after severe storms and flash flooding hit Greater Sydney and regional NSW.
Residents across Metropolitan Sydney, Hawkesbury, Central Coast and Illawarra are now eligible for disaster payments through the jointly funded Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
The specific LGAs eligible for support are Blacktown, Blue Mountains, Camden, Canterbury Bankstown, Campbelltown, Central Coast, Cessnock, Fairfield, Georges River, Hawkesbury, Hornsby, Kiama, Lithgow, Liverpool, Northern Beaches, Penrith, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Sutherland, The Hills, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly and Wollongong.
This is the second natural disaster that the Australian Government has declared this year, following the devastating floods in February.
It comes as there are currently 97 evacuation orders and 60 warnings in place for residents in Sydney’s north-west and south-west, affecting about 45,000 people.
The orders cover parts of Chipping Norton, Georges Hall, Warwick Farm, Moorebank, Lansvale, Woronora Pitt Town, McGraths Hill, Mulgrave, Vineyard and Lower Portland.
So far, there has been one confirmed fatality — a man who was kayaking in the Parramatta River on Sunday.
For today, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a severe weather warning, with heavy rainfall of up to 65 millimetres and damaging winds up to 90 kilometres per hour predicted.
Source: ABC News.
