THE RAIN finally stopped.
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In its wake, a trail of destruction that will take weeks of hard work by devoted people to clean up.
“Hundreds of emergency services personnel along with agencies including Wollongong City Council worked tirelessly to keep our residents safe during this extraordinary weather event that pummelled the east coast,” Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said.
In the meantime the public is encouraged to report any damage or hazardous conditions in council-owned area to council on 4227 7111.
With flooded waterways hopefully subsiding, authorities are also encouraging people to be vigilant on the Illawarra and South Coast waterways.
“Roads and Maritime Services operational staff are busy removing debris from the water, reinstating navigation aids, buoys and signs and helping boat owners recover vessels,” Roads and Maritime Services Principal Manager South Mike Hammond Hammond said.
“All non-essential boating should be postponed as there is a large amount of rubbish and debris, including trees and vegetation as well as building materials and other large items expected in the water.
“Some debris is obvious and some submerged or semi-submerged, which can be extremely hazardous for boaters.
The flooding has resulted in tragedy in some areas of New South Wales with police recovering the bodies of two men from waterways at Leppington and Mittagong.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Kyle Stewart expressed frustration people did not heed the warnings about taking on floodwaters.
"It is a tragedy these two lives have been lost. We simply do not know how either of these two men came to be in the flood waters.
“But what we know is that their deaths show just how dangerous flood waters are," Acting Assistant Commissioner Stewart said.
“'What do we have to say to get the message across?
"Emergency service personnel this morning have had the devastating task of retrieving the bodies of the men.
"Flood waters are deadly – we can't put it any other way,” he said.
Minister for Emergency Services David Elliott said it best at the weekend when he noted people wouldn’t drive into a bushfire, why would they drive into floodwaters?
