Continual storm events have added millions of dollars to Wollongong City Council's cleanup bill, while they are constantly "playing catchup" after every severe weather event.

Severe weather with torrential rain has plagued the Illawarra for months, the most recent storm leaving many streets under water around Thirroul, Bulli and Woonona.

Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery the severity of the latest storm season went beyond any of council's expectations in terms of amount of water, sustained period of time and infrastructure damage.

"The 2021/2022 Budget and Capital Works Program has already been delayed [due to the pandemic plus rising costs of building materials], so to deliver the existing infrastructure plans in light of rising crests there are big challenges there," Cr Bradbery said.

"We're playing catch-up in a very costly environment."

Many roads across the region have been left with deep potholes, main roads like Bulli Pass and Macquarie Pass are undergoing emergency repair works after landslides, while council workers are struggling to keep up with the growing vegetation yet drenched grounds.

"To address the issues of climate change is also major expenditure, that's where the millions come in," Cr Bradbery said.

"These require big infrastructure spends, the mitigation of storm water, and other asset protection issue such as coastal erosion, impact of sedimentation, the undermining of roads in an event like this."

Wednesday morning a team of council workers were spotted with whipper-snippers at Thirroul Beach Reserve cleaning up knee-high grass and broken branches ahead of more wet and windy weather forecast later in the week.

"As soon as the sun comes out and the rain stops, people quickly forge and tjhen have expectations that council can immediately address all those issues," the Lord Mayor said.

"It's going to be a period of backlog and challenges for council ... but also then to meet expectations of the community into the future."

Once La Nina subsides and the rain eventually stops, Cr Bradbery expects the coast to be faced with further problems with bushfires due to dense vegetation becoming ample fuel.

Meantime, Yours and Owls music festival was forced late Tuesday to make the decision to cancel the two-day event at Stuart Park, stating they had tried everything to mitigate the water over the park but would not be able to execute a safe event.

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