Big weather events flanking both sides of Australia are not what you’d normally expect a Downunder summer to deliver in its dying days.

Cyclone Rusty is battering the mining communities of north-western West Australia, floodwaters are peaking again in Queensland, and wet weather is threatening to return to Sydney.

Residents in the Pilbara were on a ”red alert” on last night as cyclone Rusty brought winds of up to 120kmh to the north-west of Western Australia.

Winds are now gusting near the eye up to 230kph as it nears the coast.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Service said the danger posed by the cyclone was very real.
Rusty is 90 to 100 kilometres in width in its eye so it’s a significant cyclone.Once it arrives people should be prepared for the very worst.

Early this morning, Rusty was 125km north-northeast of Port Hedland and 285km northeast of Karratha.The storm is now a category four monster and is set to bring major flooding.

Queensland

On the east coast, Gympie residents in south-east Queensland were preparing for their fourth flood in a year. About 34 businesses in Gympie were flooded after the Mary River broke its banks overnight.

New South Wales

Further south, the State Emergency Service continued clean-up efforts across the northern coastal regions of NSW, with 54 communities still isolated after the weekend’s wet and wild weather.

Sydney’s main water reservoir was expected to continue to spill as more rain is set to pour down in coming days.

The dam’s catchment was likely to receive at least 50 millimetres of rain between now and early next week, with falls of twice that amount possible therefore rivers that have had flooding in the past week are likely to get further flooding.