The first weekend of winter saw the region cop a soaking and get hit with strong winds and surging seas.

More than 200 millimetres of rain fell in Bellambi over the weekend – most of it in the 24 hours to 9am Sunday.

The northern suburbs also saw wind gusts just shy of the 100km/h mark.

Albion Park copped a similar drenching, while Kiama “escaped" with around 180 millimetres of rain over the weekend.

The wild winds also caused havoc with electricity services, with hundreds of homes on the South Coast and Shoalhaven without power.

While most of us were inside over the weekend, snug and warm watching the rain cascade down the window pane, others were out there in the cold and wet helping those in need.

Police, ambulance and fire and rescue crews were out and about helping those caught in floodwaters or injured in car accidents.

Power workers were out there in the appalling conditions trying to get the lights back on at people’s homes.

And the orange-suited volunteers from the State Emergency Services answered hundreds of calls for help, from patching up holes in roofs to removing trees that had fallen across the roads.

Whether it was because it was their job or simply out of a need to volunteer their time to lend a hand, the efforts of these men and women should be praised.

This weekend people found water lapping at their front door, huge trees blown down and laying across their car, water running in through a massive hole in the roof or even trapped by rising floodwaters.

In times like these it must be a relief to know you’re not alone, that there are people out there you can call on and who will come and help you when you need it the most.

Flooding like this was once a rarity but now it seems to be far more commonplace. These days some areas of the city seem to go under every time it rains.

As this flooding becomes more commonplace, people will be calling for help more often, and the effort these emergency workers put in will be even more important.

So on behalf of the people of Wollongong, we say thank you to those out there on the weekend doing their best when the weather was at its worst.