Sydney weather updates as it happened: Evacuation orders issued for Woronora, Bonnet Bay, Chipping Norton, Camden; Picton receives flood warning

That's all for tonight. Thanks for reading our live coverage of Sydney's weather and floods.

To recap, more than 2000 people have been forced to flee their homes tonight, as residents in low-lying parts of Sydney face an anxious wait to see if rivers continue to rise.

Here's a gallery of the best photos from today.

Sydney has already received a year's worth of rainfall – and it's only early in April.

Heavy rainfall should ease by the morning, but major flooding of the already swollen Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers may exceed levels reached last month and in 1988.

And there is some sun coming on Sunday – hang in there! Take care and goodnight.

More residents in Camden, in Sydney's south-west, have been ordered to evacuate.

The SES says people in the following areas must leave home by 10pm.

• Mitchell Street
• Argyle Street
• Onslow Avenue
• Alpha Road between View Street and Forrest Crescent
• Peter Avenue
• Elizabeth Street
• Ulmarra Avenue, east of Myuna Place
• Lerida Street
• Edward Street

Anyone who can't stay with family and friends should go to the Narellan Family & Community Centre.tre.

Residents in low-lying areas of Greater Sydney are in for another anxious night as floodwaters rise after torrential rain hit the city and forced 1600 people to flee their homes – some having done so several times in the past month.

While very heavy rainfall is expected to ease from tomorrow morning, the weather bureau warns that major flooding of the already swollen Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers may exceed levels reached last month and in 1988.

SES crews rescued Simone Baluch, 32, from her family home in Chipping Norton, with her dog and a litter of kittens in tow, when waters rose unexpectedly quickly as she tried to move household items upstairs. It’s the third time in four weeks the home has been subject to evacuation orders.

Before this year, the house her grandparents bought in the 1970s had only been evacuated twice: in 2020 and 1989. In 2020, Ms Baluch said, nearly the entire first floor of the house went under. So far, she is relieved “that hasn’t been replicated”.

But the stress of such frequent evacuations is “exhausting”, she said, especially with no end to the wet weather in sight.

Read more here.

It's been a wild day full of rain and more rain. So what's the forecast for Friday?

The city can expect 8-20 millimetres and a top of 22 degrees. Penrith could get 10-20mm. There's the chance of a thunderstorm, possibly severe, and heavy rain may lead to flash flooding in the morning.

For the weekend, there's more rain on Saturday (8-15mm) before some sunshine on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Then on Wednesday... you guessed it... more rain!

The Sydney suburbs with some of the highest rainfall totals from 9am to 5pm today were Terrey Hills (73.8mm), Mona Vale golf club (70mm), Avalon (68mm), and Belrose (65mm).

Elsewhere in the state, parts of the Central Coast have been soaked, with the highest rainfall totals since 9am at Ettalong Public School (116mm), Woy Woy (114mm), Bensville (114mm), Pearl Beach Reservoir (102mm) and Kincumber (102mm).

On the South Coast, Mount Pleasant had the highest total since 9am with 126mm, followed by Rixons Pass (94mm), Upper Calderwood (91mm), Huntley Colliery (80mm) and Bellambi (64mm).

An evacuation warning has been issued for parts of Wallacia, in Sydney’s west.

The NSW SES said residents and businesses in the following areas should prepare to evacuate.

• All properties along Bents Basin Road - Beres Creek, Scotcheys Creek and Baines Creek.
• All properties between Silverdale Road and Nepean River.

There have been some large rainfall totals across Sydney and the Illawarra from midnight to 4pm:

• Bellambi - 123 millimetres
• Lucas Heights - 117 millimetres
• Sydney CBD - 99 millimetres
• Terrey Hills - 84 millimetres
• Sydney Olympic Park - 57 millimetres

Meanwhile, other parts of the city have barely copped a drop. Richmond in the north-west has only had 8 millimetres since midnight, and Penrith has had 10 millimetres.

We reported earlier (see 1.48pm post) that a Kurnell resident noticed a black substance bubbling up from her sink, and that her home in Torres Street smelled of petrol fumes.

Earlier this morning, the wastewater treatment plant at petroleum company Ampol overflowed due to heavy rain, and petrol mixed with floodwaters, spilling across roadways.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority said the discharges of oily wastewater have stopped and clean-up activities have started.

"AMPOL is required to properly clean up the wastewater as quickly as possible. The EPA is attending the site to ensure the clean-up is properly managed by AMPOL," a spokesperson said.

"Residents should report any potential contamination of their water and wastewater pipes to Sydney Water."