SES Goulburn Unit praises local efforts while Highlands volunteers head north to help Wollondilly with flood efforts

The region has been hit by a deluge of rain over the past week with multiple road closures and flooding in the Highlands and further south in Goulburn.

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Moss Vale recorded 66.4 millimetres of rain on Wednesday and 27.2 milimetres on Sunday.

Bowral saw 67 millimetres fall on Wednesday and Sunday brought 29 milimetres. Both towns had received approximately 30 millimetres on Tuesday and began seeing roads close early on Wednesday morning.

Goulburn meanwhile fared better with 46.2 milimetres falling on Wednesday and 38.4 milimetres on Sunday but several roads remain closed.

The Goulburn Unit who thanked the community for their proactive approach and Goulburn Mulwaree Council for assistance in distributing sandbags.

"A big thank you to the Goulburn community for your support and resilience over the last few days," a statement read on Facebook.

"By collecting and laying your own sandbags it has helped relieve the pressure off us in what could have been an overwhelming time.

"We live in such a great community and your support is so appreciated! Thank you!"

SES Wingecarribee Unit Commander Heather Rowe meanwhile thanked locals for being prepared for flooding, revealing that their readiness allowed an additional unit of volunteers to be sent north to assist efforts in Wollondilly, which is seeing major flooding.

Local units responded to 211 jobs with 173 in Wollondilly, 23 in Wingecarribee and 15 in Moss Vale.

"I think a lot of our residents were more self-resilient this time which was good, it meant that our job count was lower," Rowe said.

"We were able to focus on those people who really needed us as opposed to those who were able to help themselves out a little bit.

"It gave us the ability to utilise an extra team to send to Wollondilly to give them a hand. They did a great job, kudos to everyone who went out. It wasn't easy and there's nothing worse than being out in torrential rain."

The Wingecarribee Unit reported that 30 tonne of sand and 3000 sandbags were handed out to the community via self-fill stations around the Highlands and Wollondilly.

See also: Flood updates: Major flooding continues with more rain forecast

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Rowe said it was quite surreal to see the amount of sand distributed, a fact made even more amazing given they had begun planning over a week ago.

"It's been a busy few days," she said.

"We knew this event was coming so we started planning at the beginning of last week. We had everything we needed and I can't tell you how much sand we went through.

"Wollondilly went through a phenomenal amount of sandbags. We couldn't bring it in fast enough.

"As we were brining in three tones of sand it was literally walking out the door in sandbags."

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