Australia Weather News

South Australia's State Emergency Service (SES) is warning people not to risk their safety as abnormally high tides are set to lash the state's coastline.

A low-pressure system is moving across the state, bringing strong winds and rain.

SES state duty officer Ian Bonython urged people to be vigilant.

"Although it might be really fancy to get some really good pictures of the high tides and the waves, we just remind the public to be diligent with their safety and really urge the public to stay back, stay away from those jetties that are being impacted," he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of the potential for flooding in low-lying coastal areas when tides rise this afternoon.

Earlier it issued a coastal hazard warning for abnormally high tides for all of the state's coastline but later reduced the area to Spencer Gulf, Gulf St Vincent and northern Kangaroo Island.

A severe weather warning is in place for dangerous winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour in the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Flinders Ranges.

SES chief of staff Robert Charlton said people should prepare for rapidly changing conditions.

"So, certainly the warning area is likely to extend over the next 12 hours into Wednesday morning, so perhaps, you know, 12 to 24 hours," he said.

SES busy responding

The SES said it had received about 200 requests for help in the past 24 hours.

The majority of requests have come from Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills, due to wind damage and minor flooding.

Goodwood Road was covered in water at Colonel Light Gardens, in Adelaide's inner south, where Mark Le Raye has lived for 53 years. 

He said flooding happened quickly in the area because of poor drainage.

"It's a safety hazard on Goodwood Road because any cars that come into it in towards the footpath are aquaplaning," he said.

"They could career off and have accidents — we've seen accidents before."

Worry in the south

In the South East, Southend is particularly vulnerable to erosion during storms.

The Wattle Range Council has installed hay bales along the town's beach to protect the local caravan park and a bridge that connects the main part of the town with a headland.

Council chief executive Ben Gower said they held up well yesterday night, but the worst weather was forecast to hit tonight.

"We've seen no erosion on this section of the coast where normally we'd actually have a steep cut-off and a really unsafe area that we'd have to get in after the storms subside and batter down those dunes again," he said.

"So they're holding up well, but they're not a permanent solution."

Residents of Rosetown, a low-lying suburb of Kingston South East, have been sandbagging ahead of the forecast rough weather.

The area flooded three times last winter when seawater rose up through Maria Creek.

Resident Tony Bryant said he was better prepared this time.

"We believed we would have been underwater today already, so we're thankful it hasn't and we're just hoping it stay this way for tonight," Mr Bryant said.

Fleurieu Peninsula resident Keith Bates on Tuesday visited the Second Valley jetty, which was recently repaired after being damaged in last year's storms.

"Just to see if the jetty's surviving but there's another piece of broken timber coming out," he said.

"I've seen it [waves] bigger, I've seen it come up under the jetty."