The current rain and weather system has left many towns, area, home and people stranded throughout the Hunter, Mid North Coast and Newcastle regions.

Emergency personel have received well over 1500 calls for assistance over the last 36 hour period.

Trains have resumed between Hamilton and Fassifern on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line after a partial closure this morning due to flooding of the line at Cockle Creek.
Buses will supplement these services and passengers are advised to allow additional travel time and listen to station announcements as stopping patterns may change.

Buses continue to replace trains between Hamilton and Scone/Dungog due to flooding of the line at Sandgate.

As at 8:45am the following roads are closed:

• The Pacific Highway between Lake Street and Oakdale Road in Gateshead with motorists diverting via the Newcastle Inner City bypass.
• Oakdale Road between the Pacific Highway and Bulls Garden Road in Gateshead.
• Bulls Garden Road near Oakdale Road in Gateshead.
• Cessnock Road between Gilleston Heights to Cessnock
• Kalaroo Road near Seasands Drive in Redhead.
• Raymond Terrace Road between Government Road and Mcfarlanes Road in Thornton with motorist diverting via Government Road and Mcfarlanes Road.
• Sandgate Road at Astra Street in Sandgate.
• Wallsend Road at Rural Drive in Sandgate.
• Industrial Drive is closed westbound and flooding is also affect eastbound traffic at Gross Street in Tighes Hill.
• Anderson Drive between Glenwood Drive and Byron Street in Beresfield.
• William Bailey Road between Port Stephens Street and Fitzgerald Bridge in Raymond Terrace.
• Mitchell Avenue between Railway Parade and Government Road in Kurri Kurri.
• Allandale Road at Kerlew Street in Nukulba and near Lovedale Road in Allandale.
• The Putty Road about 10kms north of Howes Valley.

As well motorists should use extreme caution on the following roads which are also affected by flooding but remain open:

• The Pacific Highway at Karuah, Bulahdelah, Ferodale and Possum Brush.
• The Golden Highway at Whittingham.
• The New England Highway at Tarro.
• The M1 at John Renshaw Drive.
• Industrial Drive near Tourle Street in Mayfield West.
• Tourle Street at Kooragang.
• Tomago Road in Tomago.
• Turton Road in Broadmedow.
• Maitland Road in Hexham.
• Hilsborough Road in Warners Bay.

Motorists are advised to delay all unnecessary travel and to exercise extreme caution.

Below is as reported by the ABC this morning “NSW weather: Minor flooding, landslide hits south coast with more rain forecast”

Across the state, rescue crews carried out more than 20 rescues from flood waters.

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) duty forecaster Dimitry Danchuk said rainfall there was increasing rapidly.

“Effectively this area went from minor to moderate flooding to moderate to major flooding,” Mr Danchuk said.

New South Wales State Emergency Service deputy commissioner Greg Newton said the majority of flood rescues involved people attempting to drive through floodwaters.

He said a pregnant woman was rescued from a property that was isolated by floods.

“That went very well. I believe she’s in hospital,” Mr Newton said.

“Many people are on holidays at the moment so may not be familiar with their area, so they need to take that extra care to be aware of what’s going on around them and be prepared to move if required.”

Earlier, BoM forecaster Christopher Webb said more rain was expected across the region.

“Most of the weather will affect the Hunter, particularly the lower Hunter, before the low decides to move to the north-east probably later in the day,” he said.

“There may be some gale force winds associated as well.

“It’s not over as yet. There’s still the possibility of a burst of really very heavy rain.”

Emergency crews from Sydney are preparing to travel to the region today.

However, Sue Pritchard from the State Emergency Service (SES) said crews were also preparing for the risk of flash floods in Sydney.

“We have got some flash flooding hotspots in the Sydney metro area and people just need to be aware of when they’re driving out during these downpours just take it easy on the roads,” she said.

In Sydney, some suburbs recorded more than 100 millimetres of rain in less than 24 hours from 9:00am on Tuesday.

“The highest falls appear to [have been] near Frenchs Forest on the Sydney north shore – 112mm was recorded,” the bureau’s Dmitriy Danchuk said.

A total of 108mm was recorded at Baulkham Hills, 110mm at West Pennant Hills and 102mm at Kings Langley.

“For the rest of today rain is expected to continue, at least during the first half of the day while this low pressure system stays near Newcastle,” Mr Danchuk said.