Sydney wild weather: Worst storm in 40 years

Up to 10-15 metres of waterfront land washed away at Collaroy overnight as residents returned to their homes to assess the damage after being evacuated on Sunday night.

In total, seven homes and a unit block in Collaroy were evacuated as 8m waves slammed the coast leading to major erosion, police said.

How would you feel if you spent time and money on a retaining wall contractor and landscape services, only for your garden to collapse? A devastated woman from Sydney’s northern beaches has described the moment she watched her pool and garden collapse into the ocean after a savage storm lashed the east coast on Sunday.

Zaza Silk, from Collaroy, said she lost up to 15 metres of coastline after the 125km/h winds and 150 millimetres of rain battered her property like ‘an earthquake.

‘There’s no garden now, where do we go? I have a dog, where is it going to go?,’ Ms Silk told Sunrise on Monday.

Public transport was left in chaos with train and ferry cancellations leaving hordes of peak hour commuters lining up for replacement buses at Bondi Junction and Martin Place station.

The brunt of the storm is yet to hit the Illawarra region and another 100 millimetres of rainfall is expected before the low-pressure system moves on to Tasmania on Monday evening.

Heavy rain is predicted to continue across central and southern parts of the state as the monster east coast low that lashed Queensland and NSW over the weekend heads south towards Tasmania.

Rivers are expected to rise throughout the day in areas around Sydney, and are having a major impact on traffic and public transport in western Sydney.

The SES has had about 9000 requests for assistance, and still haven’t been able to attend about 3000 of those. About 30,000 homes in the city and on the Central Coast were left without power.

A combination of the tide, the storm and the direction of the wind meant the beachside homes were the target.