Record rainfall in Lake macquarie:photos - Newcastle Herad

By Gabriel Wingate-Pearse

TORRENTIAL rain set an all-time rainfall record in Lake Macquarie on Friday, with heavy downpours bringing down trees and prompting more than 100 calls to the State Emergency Service.

Localised flooding wreaked havoc on Hunter roads with numerous accidents including one car that flipped onto its roof about 8.45am on Industrial Drive at Mayfield.

Floodwaters entered several properties including a retirement village and events across the city were cancelled, including some activities at the Newcastle Show.

A senior forecaster with the NSW Bureau of Meteorology said the rain was unusually localised, with the southwestern corner of Lake Macquarie coppeing such a deluge in such a small space of time with comparatively much smaller falls either side in in Newcastle and Gosford.

A total of 233mm fell in the 24 hours to 9am on Friday in Cooranbong, smashing the previous record of 221mm set on April 16, 1927.

Read more here...

Industrial drive at Tighes Hill. Picture by Peter Stoop