Four Die as Floods Hammer Area North of Sydney, With More Rain Coming

At least four people died and thousands are without power as severe storms lashed Australia’s most populous state.

Large swaths of New South Wales state remain on high alert for floods and extreme weather. Heavy rainfall is expected to continue into the weekend in central and southern regions, and coastal areas are bracing for wind gusts of up to 80 kilometers an hour, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. The weather system is now moving south with heavy rains in Sydney on Friday.

“Flooding will likely continue through Friday, Saturday and even into Sunday for much of eastern New South Wales,” said Dean Narramore, a meteorologist at the bureau. Some areas have recorded as much as 600mm of rainfall over the last four days, he said.

Global warming is making extreme weather such as torrential rain more frequent, putting lives, critical infrastructure and crops across the world at risk. The intensity of short and heavy rain events has increased by around 10% or more in some Australian regions, according to the government’s most recent biennial State of the Climate report.

The floods have already left at least 50,000 people isolated and four dead, with an one other person missing. Over 600 people have been rescued since the flooding began, Colin Malone, New South Wales emergency services assistant commissioner, said Friday morning.

“We’ll be using boats and helicopters to help isolated people with food and medications, and also assist in transporting people to urgent medical appointments or other medical emergencies,” he said. More than 500 boats and nine helicopters have been deployed across the state.

“Yet again, devastating flooding, water over rooftops, and people being evacuated, the word ‘unprecedented’ becomes meaningless for how Australian society and policymakers need to respond to these increasingly prevalent events,” said Paula Jarzabkowski, a researcher at the University of Queensland, who specializes in insurance protection.

Photograph: A man walks through the rain at Milsons Point in Sydney on May 22, 2025. Photo credit: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty