Traffic on the M1 Princes Motorway at Dapto has started to ease after flooding on the roadway bought four cars and a truck unstuck on Wednesday morning.
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Water about half a metre deep flooded the north and southbound lanes near Fowlers Road about 9am.
Caterina Caruso was driving north when she said she saw a southbound Mitsubishi Triton hit the metal barrier in the middle of the road.
"I looked in front of me because I didn't want to hit anyone in front because traffic was very heavy. When I looked up again he ricocheted and spun,” Ms Caruso said. “Easy four times [he spun].”
“It was raining very, very hard and heavy.”
A 43-year-old man travelling in the Triton was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to Wollongong Hospital in a stable condition.
A Leisure Coast Fruit and Deli delivery truck collided with the Triton, sustaining serious front-end damage.
The truck driver was uninjured however 15 fresh food orders, bound for the South Coast, would go undelivered, said Leisure Coast co-director Michael Braidotti.
Mr Braidotti said the truck driver “slid” the length of the Fowlers Road bridge overhead before coming to rest against the concrete roadside barrier.
“The traffic in front of him slowed in a real hurry because people were trying to get out of the left lane and into the right lane and they all came over at once.
“He hit the brakes. The road was wet it was raining and he’s just slid.
“He was very shaken up over it all.”
A separate accident occurred on the other side of the road. The Mercury understands this involved two cars.
NSW Ambulance paramedics assessed seven people at the scene. Only one, suffering shock and the effects of a pre-existing injury, required transport to hospital.
Road workers had cleared the bulk of the water from the roadway, as at 10am.
All lanes on the M1 have been reopened.
Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collisions.
