Warragamba Dam

Forecasters are expecting more heavy rain in most areas of southern NSW and ACT. A weather warning was released to alert people from the Upper Western district, Illawarra, Broken Hill, Batemans Bay, Goulburn, Ivanhoe, Young, Cowra and Forbes.

Serious weather alerts were also announced for people in Cooma particularly in the Snowy areas. An evacuation warning was set in place by the State Emergency Service to the residents.

A few people started preparing some sandbags; however, the Deputy Commissioner of SES, Dieter Gescke, said no one has been advised yet to evacuate from the area.

Due to the heavy rainfall, the Warragamba Dam is expected to overflow in the next two days. SES, however, claimed that there will be no risk of flood when it overflows for the first time in its 14 years of existence.

Murray Kear, Emergency Commissioner of SES, was interviewed by AAP and said that it will not develop flood risk. The dam isn't for flood mitigation, rather it's for storage.

Even when water is released early, it would not contribute to river peaks. Also, they have already told owners of rural properties to move their farm chemicals, stock, seed and other important things to a higher ground.

If the dam would really overflow, it would take approximately 60 minutes before the water could reach to properties according to Greg Miller, SES spokesman.

SES is currently monitoring the whole situation. It wants to find out the condition of the weather system in localities before it will provide a definite advice to residents.

The State Emergency Service received close to 300 calls from residents seeking for help yesterday. Around 75 requests were asked by people from Cootamundra and Cooma.