NSW weather LIVE updates: ‘Extreme’ rain to last until Thursday; Warragamba Dam spills over; Chester Hill residents recover from ‘mini-tornado’

It’s been a big day today, so here is where we stand as of 9.15pm.

• Wet weather is expected to continue battering the state until mid-week, with Warragamba Dam starting to spill as it nears capacity and a “mini-tornado” tearing up trees in Sydney’s west.
• On Sunday, areas including the Blue Mountains and western Sydney are expected to experience very heavy rainfall and strong winds. Sydney CBD is expected to receive between 25 and 45mm, while Penrith is expected to see up to 120mm and Richmond up to 80mm.
• Towns along the NSW North Coast, including Port Macquarie and Taree were inundated by floodwaters as rivers broke their banks in what Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled “absolutely heart-breaking scenes”.

• There are several SES evacuation orders and warnings in place across the state, including for Taree, Central Wingham and Wauchope.
• Huge amounts of rain fell in the region between 9am on Friday and 5am on Saturday, including 373mm at Delward, 343mm at Redoak (Stewarts River), 320mm at Logans Crossing, 280mm at Kindee Bridge, and 264mm at Wauchope.
• Check out the incredible images from The Sydney Morning Herald’s photographers.

• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described it as a “prolonged weather event,” with rain likely to continue until Thursday or Friday. “The last time we got major floods in NSW the weather event passed in two or three days, unfortunately, this will be a deep-seated, extreme weather event,” she said.

As NSW braces itself for a wet evening, with several evacuation orders in place across the Mid North Coast, Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said the region could receive another 200-300mm of rain on Sunday.

It’s been a big day today, so here is where we stand as of 9.15pm.

• Wet weather is expected to continue battering the state until mid-week, with Warragamba Dam starting to spill as it nears capacity and a “mini-tornado” tearing up trees in Sydney’s west.
• On Sunday, areas including the Blue Mountains and western Sydney are expected to experience very heavy rainfall and strong winds. Sydney CBD is expected to receive between 25 and 45mm, while Penrith is expected to see up to 120mm and Richmond up to 80mm.
• Towns along the NSW North Coast, including Port Macquarie and Taree were inundated by floodwaters as rivers broke their banks in what Prime Minister Scott Morrison labelled “absolutely heart-breaking scenes”.

• There are several SES evacuation orders and warnings in place across the state, including for Taree, Central Wingham and Wauchope.
• Huge amounts of rain fell in the region between 9am on Friday and 5am on Saturday, including 373mm at Delward, 343mm at Redoak (Stewarts River), 320mm at Logans Crossing, 280mm at Kindee Bridge, and 264mm at Wauchope.
• Check out the incredible images from The Sydney Morning Herald’s photographers.

• NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described it as a “prolonged weather event,” with rain likely to continue until Thursday or Friday. “The last time we got major floods in NSW the weather event passed in two or three days, unfortunately, this will be a deep-seated, extreme weather event,” she said.

A high school in Sydney’s south will remain closed tomorrow after a tornado tore through the area earlier today.

Local MP Tania Mihailuk wrote on Facebook that the school had been impacted by the strong winds overnight and this morning.

“This event has littered the school with debris from the surrounding neighbourhood including trees, branches and other potentially hazardous material,” she wrote. “Damage has been confirmed to a number of learning spaces on site.”

“The Department of Education is assessing the extent of the damage and has started the clean-up to ensure that the school can be returned to normal operations as soon as possible.

“The school will be non-operational for on-site learning on Monday. Advice will be provided to our community as to when on-site learning will resume.”

Troy Davenport is stuck with about 50 other travellers on a highway just outside Taree. He was hoping to get back home to Brisbane on Sunday, but the floods have cut him off.

Mr Davenport has spent the last three months travelling around Australia “just for fun” in a van he’s converted into a camper. He didn’t think he’d be spending the final days of his trip stranded.

“I tried to go more inland and take back streets, hoping that would help, but it was totally flooded inland - it’s just insane,” he said.

Instead, Mr Davenport will spend the next few hours on the highway, chatting with friends and watching YouTube videos.

“This is like a movie, like when all the cars are lined up on the road,” he said. “I think we will be trapped here until at least 6am and maybe even longer.”

However, it’s not the first time Mr Davenport has been stranded during his travels and he said he’s well equipped with food and drink.

Emergency services crews have been out in force across NSW today helping people caught in the floods.

They have been supported by local volunteers who have been using their own boats to help stranded residents.

Here, Lance Devaney and his son, Jackson, pick up sandbags from a friend to help stem the tide at Old Bar, near Taree.

Mr Devaney said the flooding was expected to impact the area at about midnight or 2pm and until then, he and his family will be preparing. They will be placing items as high up as possible and sandbagging the house.

While they’ve never experienced a flood before, they’re “hoping for the best,” Mr Delaney said. “We’re just waiting [for the flood].”

A Mid North Coast couple was supposed to be celebrating their wedding, but instead, they watched their home being swept away in floodwaters.

Mondrook resident, near Taree, Sarah Soars told Nine News that when her home started “floating away”, she thought “how is this happening?”

“We can get married any time,” she said. “I was happy me and my partner were not in the house.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the couple. It states they had lost everything they had worked hard for, including their pets.