Twenty years ago on this day it was a much different story.

Twenty years ago today it started to rain and it just didn’t stop. It rained and rained and rained.

A big east coast low settled over the region and emptied itself completely.

Over 300mm of rain was received in less than 24 hours and much of that water had nowhere to go.

Now retired NSW Police Rescue Senior Constable Gary Storey reflected on the day this week.

“It was a bit of a nightmare really because August started with the rains and it didn't stop. It was relentless,” Mr Storey told the Illawarra Mercury.

The rain water flowed down the escarpment and through streets, houses and cars, taking anything and everything in its wake.

Twenty years on, that day lives large in the memories of the people who experienced it.

The date of August 17, 1998, is never forgotten.

Wollongong City Council was at pains this week to stress we shouldn’t be complacent. It warned 1998 can and most likely will happen again.

While showing the media around the council’s flood mitigation work this week, the Lord Mayor reinforced that message.

“Since 1998 we have made some major inroads in making our city safer from flood waters,” the Lord Mayor said.

“[But] as we mark this anniversary I want people to remember that floods like ‘98 can happen again.”

As we saw this week in the bushfires which struck to the south in the middle of winter, Mother Nature is a powerful entity and is often not predictable.

Aside from the impact of flooding, the impact of the clean-up itself was enormous and to this day some have never fully recovered.

As the city remembers this day 20 years ago, the memories come flooding back.

We can only hope they stay as memories and we don’t get to relive them again any time soon.