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Destructive winds and heavy rain have left tens of thousands in New South Wales without power and forced some Central Coast residents to evacuate their homes as authorities warned conditions will “deteriorate even further”.Some areas received a month’s worth of rain in one day, while others recorded winds above 100km/h on Tuesday as a vigorous coastal low continued to intensify late in the day.The Bureau of Meteorology said late on Tuesday night that winds with gusts above 125kmh were possible along the coastal fringe of the Illawarra and south coast on Tuesday evening.There would also be heavy rainfall which could lead to flash flooding in the Illawarra south of Nowra and as far as Bega. However, the rain is expected to ease on Wednesday morning.Commuters nevertheless face severe disruption on Wednesday after Transport NSW advised passengers that they “should avoid non-essential travel across the rail network”. Infrastructure had been damaged, it said, and routes cancelled due to fallen trees.It also said drivers should be ready for delays and disruptions to last through the coming days.Communities from Jervis Bay to Batemans Bay on the south coast were urged to stay indoors just after 5pm due to heavy rainfall and damaging and destructive winds, while other areas, including parts of Sydney, faced flood warnings.As of 7pm on Tuesday, about 30,000 Ausgrid customers remained without power, according to the company, which distributes electricity to about 1.8 million customers in Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter.Ausgrid said the worst affected areas were the Central Coast and the Hunter region, where 15,500 and 13,000 homes had lost power, respectively. Emergency crews would work through the night to restore power, the company said.Earlier, the SES issued a general warning for people to stay indoors. As of 7.30pm, people in Sydney were advised to monitor weather conditions and stay across any hazards as the weather system tracked south.A spokesperson for the SES said it had responded to more than 1,300 calls for assistance in the 24 hours to 7pm on Tuesday. Some ferries and trains were suspended in NSW while commuters in Sydney faced heavy traffic.The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) deputy commissioner, Debbie Platz, told ABC News conditions along the east coast were “very dangerous” and would “deteriorate even further overnight”.Platz said wild weather had knocked over trees and powerlines, leading to significant crashes on the roads.View image in fullscreenRain falls over the Sydney CBD on Tuesday. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPJust before 4pm on Tuesday, the SES directed people living in parts of the Central Coast to evacuate immediately due to the threat of dangerous waves causing damage to buildings amid coastal erosion caused by storm activity.People in properties along Hutton Road at North Entrance and at Wamberal on parts of Ocean View Drive, which backs on to Wamberal beach, and Pacific Street were told to evacuate.The community of Wamberal, 50km north of Sydney, has been struggling with coastal erosion for years, with division over whether or not the council should install a sea wall in an effort to protect properties on the shoreline.NSW weather maps: which parts of state are being hit by flooding and rain – and what areas are at risk?Read more‘Not out of the woods yet’The system was expected to be “more intense and much sharper” than the weather event that caused flooding across the Hunter region and mid-north coast in May, the SES northern zone commander, Chief Supt Andrew Cribb, said.“We’re not out of the woods yet,” he told reporters on Tuesday.The NSW emergency services minister, Jihad Dib, said the “complex and large system” stretched from the mid-north coast down to Bega.“It may seem pretty bad [now], but the terrible thing is that the situation is going to worsen over the course of the next 24 hours, particularly later this afternoon and into the evening [and] tomorrow,” Dib told reporters on Tuesday. “So once again, we’re asking people to be as prepared as they possibly can be.”The rapidly deepening system reached the NSW coast and was slowly moving southwards. Widespread rainfall totals of 50mm-150mm were likely, the SES warned, with isolated intense falls above 200mm in 24 hours, “which will cause flash flooding”.The SES had deployed vehicles, helicopters and personnel to areas likely to be heavily affected.The service had responded to more than 900 incidents since Monday morning and had received more than 1,700 calls to the state operations centre, a spokesperson said.“We’re seeing a lot of debris and trees down, requests for sandbags and also leaking roofs,” they said.

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skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Breaking News AustraliaFree newsletterGet the most important news as it breaksEnter your email address Sign upPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotion‘Vigorous coastal low’The weather bureau had classified the system as a “vigorous coastal low” – not an “east coast low” or “bomb cyclone”, as some reported.Helen Reid, a bureau meteorologist, said the weather system was more mobile than an east coast low and there were differences in physical characteristics, duration and moisture.View image in fullscreenA surfer rides a wave at Nobby’s Beach in Newcastle on Tuesday during rain and heavy surf. Photograph: Roni Bintang/Getty ImagesA severe weather warning was in place for metropolitan Sydney and the Illawarra, along with parts of the mid-north coast, the Hunter, south coast, central tablelands, southern tablelands, northern tablelands and northern rivers forecast districts.The mid-north coast region was an area of concern for emergency services because the soil was still saturated from the May floods.Reid said the wind and rain were likely to increase into Tuesday afternoon and overnight.With the rain continuing, some places along the coast could record more than 100mm and “even a couple that might get up to the 200mm mark”, Reid said.Several places received a month’s worth of rain. By 7.30am on Tuesday, Jervis Bay had recorded 109mm, Currarong 85mm and Williamtown 70mm. Several places in the northern rivers had already had 40mm of rainfall, she said.The bureau was also warning of destructive winds averaging 60-70km/h, with peak gusts of up to 125km/h possible.By Tuesday mid-morning, wind speeds of 113km/h were recorded at Wattamolla, south of Sydney.View image in fullscreenWalkers shelter from the rain at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Tuesday. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP‘Everyone’s just a bit over the weather’: NSW residents barely back on their feet brace for fresh floods – againRead moreWarragamba Dam was 98% full and was expected to spill in the coming days based on forecast rainfall, WaterNSW said in a social media post.Transport for NSW urged public transport users, motorists and boaters to be prepared.A spokesperson for Sydney airport said flight schedules could be affected. “We recommend passengers check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.”Airservices Australia said aircraft movements had been reduced on Tuesday morning and it was working to manage the impact of severe weather conditions in Sydney.The SES urged people to be vigilant.“We’ve been asking people to prepare their homes and properties since last week and now it really is too late to be outside in the weather,” a spokesperson said.– with Australian Associated Press