The Illawarra's dams have continued to fill in recent days, as water flows from the surrounding rivers and catchment areas.
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According to WaterNSW, the Greater Sydney Catchment is now 75 per cent full, a significant jump from the 41.7 per cent storage level a week ago.
It's also an almost 15 percentage point rise from Monday, when dams were just over 60 per cent full.
Cataract Dam, the closest to Wollongong, has risen a whopping 174 per cent, going from just 26 per cent to 71.2 per cent in seven days.
Land masses that were visible weeks ago are now completely underwater, and the dam's spillway is open, with water gushing out.
Cordeaux Dam, where storage levels have more than doubled in a week is now 71.3 per cent full, while Avon Dam has hit 84.2 per cent (up more than 90 per cent).
The Nepean Dam, south-west of Sydney, is at 100 per cent and is overflowing.
Despite the huge increases to the Illawarra and Sydney's water supply, the NSW Government is yet to make any moves to remove Level 2 water restrictions, which came into force on December 10.
That means residents are still required to use a bucket or can for watering gardens - only before 10am and after 4pm - or when washing cars.
More rain is forecast over the next week, however, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, there is nothing like the huge daily totals of last weekend on the cards.
On Friday, less than 1mm is forecast, while on Saturday and Sunday there is a 50 per cent chance of showers on both days, with less than 2mm is predicted.
Already at halfway through February, this is the fifth wettest month at the Bellambi weather station since 1997 (when the station records began).
Just over 18mm needs to fall in the next 14 days for it to beat the total of March 2017, which is when the region last received significant rain.
Unsurprisingly, the wettest month was during August 1998 - when the city's drains couldn't cope with nine times the average rainfall for August falling in less than six hours.
That year, the streets of many suburbs flooded, causing millions of dollars worth of damage to homes, cars and property, and one man died - swept away in a creek.
The second wettest month was June 2016, when king tides and a huge east coast low drenched Wollongong.
At the Albion Park weather station, this month is already the eighth wettest.
Five wettest months*
- August 1998 - 682mm
- June 2016 - 436.6mm
- April 2003 - 423.4mm
- March 2017 - 368mm
- February 2020 - 349mm
*Recorded at Bellambi
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
