Severe storms have caused flash floods, hail, and damage to large parts of New South Wales and Queensland, and are now moving south to Victoria, where more heavy rain is expected.
Flash floods and hail hit NSW
Apu Gomes/Getty Images
Australia's east coast is now experiencing severe weather, with thunderstorms and flash flooding predicted to persist in New South Wales.
The Central West, Riverina, South Coast, Sydney, the Central Coast, and the Hunter have all been battered by large hail, torrential rain, and flooding.
Volunteers from the NSW State Emergency Service handled 312 events on Christmas Day following 492 incidents on Christmas Eve, the most of which occurred in Sydney.
The State Emergency Service (SES) received more than 300 calls for assistance, mostly for fallen trees and damaged roofs. There were no reports of major injuries or rescues.
SES community capability officer for the region, Steve Lawrence, said the main concern in coming days was low-lying communities prone to flash flooding.
"Areas that traditionally do see water over roads with these types of storm events that we've seen over the last couple of days with the very, very heavy downpours," he said.
The little town of Grenfell's residents were most severely affected when hail struck shortly after midday, breaking windows, automobiles, and houses.
Hail was also reported in Orange, Yass, and as far north as Urbenville and Macksville along the coast.
Three hours of rain totaling 156 mm at Eurobodalla caused local roads to flood and some properties to get submerged.
The wet and stormy conditions are not expected to ease until the end of the week, as the weather system moves south to Victoria.
A severe weather warning is in place for the state's north-east, where up to 200mm of rain is forecast for some areas.
The Gippsland region is expected to see the worst conditions, with falls between 80mm to 150mm predicted, along with isolated rainfall of more than 200mm in east Gippsland.
SES commander Geb Abbott said many river systems in the region were still rising, with moderate flood warnings out for the Macalister, Cann, and Genoa rivers.
He said people in the region should monitor the Vic Emergency app for any updates and avoid driving through floodwaters.
"Just making sure that farmers move their stock and cattle ... and of course the roads, making sure people do not drive through flood waters," he said.
The SES has received 770 requests for assistance in the past 24 hours from across the state, mostly for fallen trees.
One of the roads affected by the wild weather was Mallacoota-Genoa Road, the main road into Mallacoota, which was closed due to a landslide.
"The debris is about the size of a house on the road ... that's fully blocked," SES Gippsland regional duty officer Karina Osgood said,
BOM senior meteorologist Angus Hynes said the low pressure system was expected to move eastwards over the Tasman Sea by Friday, bringing some relief to the affected areas.
"By the weekend we should see a return to more typical spring weather, with some showers and thunderstorms, but nothing like the widespread heavy rainfall we've seen this week," he said.
