Australia Weather News

Campers and travellers have begun to leave or change travel plans for the NSW south coast with severe weather forecast to continue battering the region across the weekend.

A severe weather warning of heavy rain and damaging wind is in place for the state's south coast and parts of the Illawarra, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains.

The town of Eden on the NSW far south coast was badly hit on Thursday night, when the first of the storms made landfall.

Garden of Eden caravan park manager Bea Bamford had to evacuate campers from low-lying areas into cabins at the top side of the park.

"We had to remove everybody, we had to get trucks and tractors and remove all caravans as best we could," she said.

"Some tents and a lot of stuff have been left behind and are ruined.

"They're all packing up and heading home."

Ms Bamford said the nearby river rose to past her knees during the night and pushed down the caravan park's fence line.

"The debris and the destruction is evident this morning," she said.

Campers warned

Authorities have warned the risk is not over, with six-hourly rainfall totals of 50 to 80 millimetres expected on the south coast during Friday and isolated falls of up to 120 millimetres possible.

The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has warned the severe weather could pose significant risks for campers and travellers across the south coast and Illawarra during the next 48 hours.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast that the coastline from Wollongong to Moruya will be worst impacted on Friday.

SES incident controller Sharon Fox said crews were visiting high-risk camping areas and coastal sites along the south coast.

"Anyone that is camped along the south coast in those low-lying areas we definitely urge you to make a smart decision and pack up and move away from those areas," Ms Fox said.

"The best advice would be to pack up and move on.

"The more people that take that advice is fantastic, because it just lowers the stress for the volunteers having to go out and do rescues."

Caravan Park operators in the Illawarra have reached out to their campers with warnings about the severe weather.

Big Four Kiama caravan park operator Sharon Nellies said the park was taking all precautions.

"We're also contacting all of our sites that are anywhere near our potential flood sites and warned them to prepare for emergency evacuation or to leave early," she said.

"Most of our sites are due to leave tomorrow, so we are seeing a lot of sites packing up now to get ahead of it and leave today."

People are being urged to leave early and monitor conditions on the roads, especially as conditions peak in the Illawarra on Friday afternoon.

"We need people to take care on the roads," Ms Fox said.

"If we do see those thunderstorms developing, it's likely that they could lead to flash flooding on the roads."

High rainfall totals

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Merimbula Airport received 110 millimetres in the 24 hours to 10am on Friday, while Brogo near Bega received 115mm and Green Cape 77mm.

Multiple residents in Eden, Kiah and Nethercote told the ABC they had received about 200mm in their rain gauges.

The State Emergency Service responded to 98 calls for assistance across the south-eastern zone in the 24 hours to 8am.

Wet weekend forecast

Winds were expected to average 60-70 kilometres per hour across parts of the coastline, particularly around Jervis Bay, on Friday.

SES south east duty incident controller Barry Griffiths said motorists should plan their journeys.

"There's some significant rainfall, consistently spread through the day, all the way from Eden up to Sydney," he said.

"If you're driving, it is going to be wet today, so make sure your windshield wipers are in good condition.

"Check the weather … and either defer travel or just make sure that when you are travelling, if the rain is too heavy, pull over.

"If you see any floodwater, don't drive through it."

The heaviest rain is predicted to shift slowly up the coast through after Friday, to be focused around the Illawarra and Sydney on Saturday and the Hunter by Sunday.