Due to Sydney’s unpredictable weather, a beachfront neighborhood now resembles a “winter wonderland.”
On Maroubra Road in the eastern outskirts of the city, gale-force winds dropped almost 70 cm of sand on Sunday evening.
The neighborhood looked more like a ski field due to the mountains of sand that were blown in from the beaches; on Monday, trucks were sent in to clear it up.
The disorderly scenes happened at a time when there was severe flooding in the greater west of the city, especially in Menangle, Wallacia, and North Richmond, as well as along the banks of the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers.
More surges are forecast on Monday night in Windsor and Lower Portland as well as on Tuesday at Wisemans Ferry.
Strong wind and hazardous surf warnings are still in place for NSW, and there is still a potential of flash floods and landslides.
More than 32,000 state citizens were urged to leave their homes today, while another 6,000 were told to be vigilant and ready to do so.
Camden, in the city’s far-west, is among the worst places hit with the town submerged for the fourth time this year while parts of Lansvale, Chipping Norton and Moorebank have also gone under water. 
Additionally, the Bureau of Meteorology is looking into whether a waterspout or tornado caused the damage to 40 homes on Sunday between Bellambi and Corrimal, in the Illawarra area.
Rescue teams were forced to postpone preparations to remove 21 crew members who were trapped aboard a cargo ship that became stuck off the coast of New South Wales due to the heavy seas.
The Portland Bay bulk carrier lost power on Monday morning and is located approximately a kilometer off Garie Beach in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney.
Rescue efforts are underway.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning, predicting that rain will continue to fall along the coast for the rest of the week and will persist through the winter and potentially into the spring.
BoM attributed the lingering circumstances to the likely confluence of a positive Southern Annular Mode and a possible negative Indian Ocean Dipole.
According to SES spokesperson Ashley Sullivan, rivers will continue to rise even if the rain eases this week as forecast since the already saturated flood plains cannot absorb any more water.
“These rivers are rising far more quickly than expected,” we are told. Much quickly than we anticipated,’ he said on Monday, according to the Nine Network.
‘Things are happening quicker. The risk … has increased significantly.’