Flooding rains brought the capital and surrounding communities to a standstill yesterday, closing roads and damaging homes, but more record-breaking falls are on the way, meteorologists warn.
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Evacuations were carried out yesterday in parts of Cowra, Cooma and Goulburn, and Queanbeyan residents were on standby for an evacuation order after the Bureau of Meteorology warned of moderate to major flooding in the area.
In the 24 hours to 6pm yesterday, almost 60mm of rain fell in Queanbeyan. Rainfall could reach 200mm or more by the end of the weekend and major flooding is forecast at Oaks Estate, while Queanbeyan River is only forecast to have minor flooding, with the river peaking at 6.2m last night.
The territory also received a drenching, breaking March's average monthly rainfall of about 50mm before 7.30am on the first day of the month and doubling it by 6.30pm. More than 160mm of rain has been dumped on the capital since midnight Tuesday, sparking more than 450 calls for help.
Weatherzone, a Fairfax-owned company, says Canberra is on target for its biggest downpour in 23 years and potentially its biggest in 62 years.
The bureau's senior meteorologist Sean Carson said the rain would ease off in Canberra and surrounding regions today as the heavy rain moved north, but tomorrow would bring another deluge. Those in warning areas could see between 100 and 200mm of rain. ''Canberra could be in for another 50mm of rain [tomorrow] - that makes the situation even more dire,'' Mr Carson said.
''Our third big dump of rain this afternoon [Thursday] and another on Saturday and it could start to break records that go back as far as 1950.
''It's a pretty huge rain band, something we only see every few years.''
Almost three quarters of NSW has been affected by the floods and NSW SES has received more than 740 calls for help.
Up to 49mm of rain fell in Cooma in the 24 hours to 6am yesterday and it received another 38mm between 9am and 8pm.
More rain is forecast for the area during the next 48 hours and a flood watch for major flooding was still in place last night.
Goulburn has had more than 135mm of rain since Monday. SES Southern Highlands region spokesman Michael Eburn said those in the area were expecting ''more of the same'' in the coming days.
The bureau said, ''By early Friday morning, conditions are expected to have eased in the Lower Western, Riverina, South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains, ACT and South Coast districts, although some patchy rain or showers may remain''.
''There are strong indications that some of these areas may again be affected by heavy rain during the weekend.''
Many roads around the ACT and surrounding parts of NSW were closed because of flooding yesterday.
ACT Policing responded to several accidents and are urging people to drive to the conditions. Minor flooding at the Canberra Hospital forced the shutdown of a linear accelerator used in radiation treatment of cancer patients. Students from Holy Trinity Primary School attending camp at the Birrigai Outdoor School were also evacuated yesterday.
