Sydney Morning Herald
Copyright 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
SYDNEY, Australia — The search for two young boys feared swept away in a flooded creek in Sydney’s west is continuing after 24 hours of wild weather across much of NSW.
A massive six-hour search has so far failed to find any trace of the pair, and police have not discounted that they may have made it to safety.
A man saw two boys, believed to be aged nine or 10, on an island in the middle of the flooded Wianamatta Creek at Werrington about 5pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.
Strong currents thwarted his attempt to reach the pair, and he found no sign of them when he returned to the creek after going home to call police for help.
Police, paramedics, State Emergency Service (SES) personnel and the fire brigade were searching a large area around the creek.
A police spokesman said it was possible the boys managed to make it out of the creek themselves as they had not received any missing persons reports in the area.
“We’re not discounting that,” he said.
“If they (the boys) have gotten out and they are at home and aware of the incident, we’re asking that they call police.”
But the search, involving SES floodboats and two helicopters, would continue, he said.
An SES spokesman said people should not swim or attempt to drive through floodwaters.
“Floodwaters are not a playground,” he said.
“That’s the message we have to get home to people.”
The Bureau of Meteorology’s rain map shows high rainfall right along the NSW coastline in the 24-hours to 9am, with the biggest falls concentrated from Sydney to Wollongong.
Campbelltown, south-west of Sydney, received 149mm of rain while numerous sites in central Sydney received more than 70mm.
The deluge comes after January was rated as NSW’s wettest in 12 years according to weather bureau records.
The SES said it received 740 requests for assistance in the 24-hours to 4pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, mostly from southern Sydney and the Illawarra south coast.
More calls came in from western Sydney, where the SES has logged 409 calls for help since Sunday.
A SES spokeswoman said no communities were in imminent danger from flooding despite the high rainfall and predictions of more on the way.
“We are expecting more rain to fall, but the information coming out of the (weather) bureau is not indicating anything near what we got last night,” she said.
“The water is receding in relation to last night’s downpour and we are continuing to monitor the situation.”
A Rural Fire Service crew needed to be roped to safety about 6.30am (AEDT) after floodwaters engulfed their firefighting truck.
The crew were investigating reports of a submerged car at Leppington, in Sydney’s south-west, when they needed rescuing.
NSW Maritime has also urged boat users to check their tarps and boat moorings, and keep a watch for floating debris if boating on swollen riverways.