NSW State Emergency Service (SES) acting commissioner Greg Newton is a proud of the way crews across the state have worked tirelessly across the weekend to help people in need.

Acting commissioner Newton said the deluge was widespread and affected communities up and down the entire NSW coastline as it headed south towards Victoria and Tasmania. It is a number of years since he has seen such a large area affected at one time.

The weather bureau’s advanced warning meant the SES was well prepared and had 800 volunteers on the ground to try and cope with the 5500 calls for help that were made in the first 48 hours. Fire & Rescue NSW, Rural Fire Service, Police and Ambulance and specialist flood rescue operators from the Federal Police and Victoria Police as well as swift water technicians were all active on the South Coast.

Acting commissioner Newton said such response involving over 100 SES units along coastal NSW coast would only further improve when the new state headquarters opens in late 2017. He said it would bring more key personal responsible for coordinating such a response closer together. It is important for every unit to have access to all the information and resources they need.

He said covering such a large area at one time was definitely a challenge but he is delighted with the way emergency personnel have responded.

“This is quite a significant event for NSW,” he said.

Acting commissioner Newton said the Georges River in Sydney and Lismore were areas of concern on Sunday morning. And as heavy rain fell further south more flash flooding and road closures were expected in the Illawarra and on South Coast. Falling trees were also an issue because of the soft wet ground.

Horsley is one area that kept crews busy on Sunday afternoon after two rescues were conducted in Dapto during the morning.

In NSW 550 people were evacuated from their properties on Saturday night and Sunday morning and more were expected on Sunday afternoon.

Destructive wind gusts of up to 125 kph were recorded in parts of the state as people were encouraged to stay home and not head out onto the roads after more than 100 flood rescues in NSW involved people driving into deep water and stalling. Heavy is expected to continue into Monday morning on the South Coast.

“When you see flood water you often can’t tell how deep it is. One thing you really can’t know is what the condition of the road is underneath it,” acting commissioner Newton said.

“We have had whole families rescued from cars. We are encouraging people not to drive into flood water. The risk they are putting themselves in is extreme.”

Illawarra/South Coast incident controller Ashley Sullivan said the highest tide of the year added to the severe weather warning and there was a flood watch in place for the Shoalhaven, the Eurobodalla Shire and Bega Valley.

There have been over 800 requests for assistance currently received in the Illawarra and South Coast region where several hundred volunteers supported by other emergency services have been responding.

“We have seen 24 flood rescues completed this morning alone just in the Illawarra,” Mr Sullivan said.

“And we are starting to see the workload increase on the South Coast. Most of these flood rescues have related to people who have driven into flood waters unnecessarily.”

There were also a number of flood rescues on Sunday along with trees falling onto houses and cars and roofs torn from homes in the Northern Illawarra and Shellharbour.

Ms Sullivan said it was unfortunate timing for the highest tide of the year to coincide with the heavy rainfall. It means the stormwater “backs up and exacerbates the flooding..along the coastline”.

“We are watching all the river systems, the inland lakes and coastal rivers very closely...because there is a real risk that that high tide at 8pm tonight will see an increase in the response to the flooding because of the amount of water we are going to see back up,” Mr Sullivan said.

He said it was extremely important people listen to the “if it is flooded forget it” warning on the roads.