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11.20am:
11am: The latest on official road closures:
- The Illawarra Highway is closed at Tongarra Road in Albion Park - northbound traffic is queued back two kilometres to New Lake Entrance Road;
- Stop/slow traffic control on the Princes Highway in Gerringong due to emergency roadworks at Belinda Street;
- A landslide on the Kings Highway on the Nelligen Bridge on the South Coast is affecting traffic in both directions; and
- Audley Road remains closed at the Audley Weir in the Royal National Park.
10.30am:
10am: Shellharbour City SES has these tips to ensure you are ready when wild weather hits.
Local controller Terrie-Ann Hurt said the key thing was to look at your property. ''After a storm there could be broken branches and loose tiles and now is the time to act to ensure that these don’t cause further damage,'' she said.
The SES advise:
- Maintaining your yard to ensure nothing can become a projectile in high winds (including securing trampolines);
- Clean gutters and downpipes to prevent blockages;
- Trim trees and branches that could potentially fall on buildings;
- Fix any damage to your roof including broken or missing tiles;
- Check your insurance policy is current and provides adequate protection;
- Make a home emergency plan;
- Prepare an emergency kit; and
- Listen to the local radio stations or keep up to date with other media outlets for weather warnings.
9.35am:
9.10am: The latest on official road closures:
- The Illawarra Highway is closed at Tongarra Road in Albion Park - northbound traffic is queued back two kilometres to New Lake Entrance Road;
- Stop/slow traffic control on the Princes Highway in Gerringong due to emergency roadworks at Belinda Street; and
- Audley Road remains closed at the Audley Weir in the Royal National Park.
8.54am:
8.40am: The wild weather kept SES crews busy on Monday night with volunteers attending more than 40 jobs across the region.
Wollongong SES incident controller Ashley Sullivan said crews were continuing to respond to call-outs for help with leaking roofs and fallen trees.
He warned residents to avoid floodwater in the coming days.
‘‘There is still a considerable amount of water around so we just want people to be cautious,’’ he said.
‘‘We don’t want people driving through floodwater or letting kids play in floodwater, it is still a risk.’’
Mr Sullivan said he expected crews to be kept busy well into Tuesday and Wednesday.
8.35am:
8.15am: Official road closures due to flooding:
- The Illawarra Highway at Taylor Road in Albion Park is still closed.
- The Audley Weir at Sir Bertram Stevens Drive in the Royal National Park is closed.
- Traffic is affected on the Illawarra Highway at Wilsons Road at Burrawang
8.10am: The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for gale force winds along the Illawarra coast on Tuesday.
8am:
Earlier: The Illawarra endured another day of heavy rain and wild winds on Monday, keeping SES crews busy and causing chaos on the region's roads.
A severe weather warning was in place for the Illawarra and South Coast for most of the day as the region was battered by storms, gale-force winds and powerful surf.
The conditions followed a rain-soaked weekend, which saw the region cop a bucketing on Sunday.
In the 24 hours to 9am Monday, the Illawarra received some of the heaviest rainfall in the state, with Scarborough recording 66 millimetres, Bellambi 61 millimetres and Albion Park 64 millimetres.
The rain eased on Monday, with Albion Park recording 19 millimetres between 9am and 5pm.
The wet weather kept the region's SES crews busy, with volunteers attending almost 250 jobs across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven over the past two days. On Monday alone, volunteers had assisted with 176 jobs by 4pm.
SES Wollongong incident controller Ashley Sullivan said crews had mostly responded to calls for help with leaking roofs and fallen trees.
Volunteers rescued several people from floodwater at the intersection of Illawarra Highway and Taylor Road in Albion Park on Sunday afternoon.
Shellharbour crews captured video footage of floodwaters on Macquarie Pass on Sunday night, which forced the closure of the Illawarra Highway. Swamp Road between Kiama and Jamberoo was also closed on Monday afternoon.
Mr Sullivan said crews had kept an eye on flooding hot spots on Monday.
Rain closed the Illawarra Highway on Monday morning while traffic was slow-moving on Mount Ousley Road and on the F6 near the University of Wollongong.
Nearly 2500 homes across the Illawarra and parts of northern Sydney also were without power due to strong winds.
A low pressure system off the coast moved north on Monday, bringing rain, gale-force winds and dangerous surf conditions.
Winds reached around 65km/h with peak gusts of 100km/h while waves reached up to four metres.
The rain is set to hang around well into next weekend, with showers predicted for most of the week. Dangerous conditions are forecast for boaters.