Heavy rainfall overnight has reopened Lake Conjola which is now draining swiftly into the ocean with the falling tide.
Council had deployed excavators to nearby locations to be on standby to manually open the lake if it reached the planned opening level of 1m AHD, as per the NSW Crown Lands Licence agreement.
At 9pm, the lake was measured at 0.6m and BoM forecasts of 50-100mm of rain did not allow for the opening of the lake at that time. The storm direction changed overnight and between 2am and 4am, the recently closed lake reopened naturally as 200-400mm of rain fell in the catchment.
Given the rough conditions of the ocean, any pre-emptive work performed before midnight would have been undone with the incoming seas pushing sand back into the berm.
The falling tide will now lead to flood waters draining to the ocean quickly.
A number of SES crews are on the ground providing support to those whose properties have been affected by the storm and are available to help by contacting 132 500.
Council is monitoring several lakes in the region ready to open if flood levels are reached.
