Woman missing in floodwaters as wild weather rips across NSW

3 months ago 22

By Harriet Alexander

August 3, 2025 — 8.14am

Wild weather ripped across the state on Saturday night, causing severe thunderstorms on the Mid North Coast, heavy snow on the Northern Tablelands and flooding in the Hunter, where a woman is still missing after being swept away in a car.

Lightning strikes in Sydney caused the rugby Test match between the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions to be delayed for 40 minutes.

Storm damage in Manly was among 1455 incidents to which the SES responded.

The State Emergency Service responded to 1455 incidents relating to rainfall, thunderstorms and snow, and emergency warnings are currently in place for parts of Scone due to flooding.

Major flooding is also anticipated for the Peel and Namoi Rivers at Tamworth, Gunnedah and Manila, and moderate flooding on the Paterson and Williams rivers at Gostwyck Bridge, Dungog and Mill Dam Falls.

Emergency services are still searching for a woman in her 20s who had been the passenger in a Mini Countryman that attempted to cross floodwater at Black Creek, north of Cessnock, when it became stuck.

The 27-year-old driver managed to escape uninjured while her passenger was swept away. SES members called to the scene at about 7.50pm then discovered a 40-year-old man stuck up a tree, having also been trapped in floodwater.

They attempted to rescue him, but he was swept further down the creek before they managed to pull him out.

The search for the woman was suspended overnight and will continue on Sunday with help from members of the NSW Rural Fire Association and VRA Rescue.

It was among 11 flood rescues mainly related to people stuck in vehicles after driving into floodwater, prompting a plea from the SES for people not to attempt to cross floodwater.

Rain is expected to decrease on Sunday, but rivers are still expected to rise throughout the day and into Monday, and residents in parts of Scone, Dungog, Tamworth and Gunnedah have been warned to prepare to isolate.

Further north, Guyra and Armidale received 20 to 40 centimetres on Saturday afternoon, giving way to an outbreak of snowman-making activity and snow-clogged vehicles.

Heavy falls were recorded at Glen Innes.

Glen Innes recorded its coldest day in 29 years of records, with a top of 4.1 degrees, while Inverell, Tamworth and Narrabri clocked up their coolest August days.

More than 100 vehicles became stuck in snow on the New England Highway, Waterfall Way, Norris Road and Grafton Road in circumstances where the SES was called to respond. Black ice also made for dangerous road conditions.

South-east Queensland received its first snow since 2015.

“It was more of a flurry than settling on the ground,” the Bureau of Meteorology’s Miriam Bradbury said.

The highest rainfalls were recorded at Careys Peak in the upper Hunter (141 mm) and Bulahdelah on the Mid North Coast (139 mm). The strongest wind gusts were at Lord Howe Island (107 kph) and Norah Head (104kph).

“There was fairly widespread rain from the Illawarra to the Mid North Coast, pushing inland along the Northern Tablelands, but the highest falls were really clustered across the Hunter and parts of the Mid North Coast,” Bradbury said.