Sydney cafe’s furniture floats down the street as downpour soaks the city

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In Sydney's inner west, the floodwaters came like a storm surge.

Tony Sleiman was serving a family in his Glebe cafe when the heavy rain started coming down at around 12.30pm on Monday. Just 20 minutes later, they were all stuck inside.

“Fair dinkum, they had a bubba and a pram and were slowly creeping up towards the back of the cafe, as the water [rose],” the owner of Bruce Tea & Coffee says.

“Then they found themselves stuck in this place … till eventually they had to make a break for it.”

Prompting a massive amount of flash flooding with warnings to remain indoors to stay safe.

By mid-afternoon, the city had recorded 52.8 millimetres of rain at Observatory Hill since 9 am, as per the Bureau of Meteorology's data. Horsley Park, which is about 50 kilometres west of the city, had received 88 millimetres of rain.

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Sleiman and his customers stood by as his outdoor furniture drifted down Bridge Road near the Fish Market, which had now completely surrounded by water.

“If we'd open the door, we would’ve got swamped even more, so I just thought, 'I'll leave it and come back for it later',” he says.

“Any time it rains at the moment, I get worried … it's a real flood risk and it comes on fast. We're up to our knees in water and bailing out the drains all the time.”

The floodwater went away just as suddenly as it had arrived.

Torrents of water smash into NSW and Victoria, with 21 people pulled to safety from motors in batteries of flash flooding in Sydney.

After gettin' a metre into his cafe, everythin' had leaked out within an hour and a half. Sleiman gave it a good clean, gave it a good hose down, and by 4pm, his cafe looked like "it never happened".

Craig, a local bloke who didn't want to have his surname used, was having a pint at the Kauri Foreshore hotel down the road when the clouds suddenly darkened and a heavy downpour rolled in.

The atmosphere was upbeat. Tradies on the new Sydney Fish Markets site were having their lunch and watching the Super Bowl during their break.

Then they also got stuck inside – no one could get in or out of the pub as water lapped at the stairwell.

"The tradies told their boss they couldn't get back, but they ended up wading up to their ankles in water to get to the fish market," Craig says.

“It was all over in a matter of minutes.”

By mid-arvo, the rain had trickled to a patter. Drinkers were settlin' back in for the day, with the footpath that had been submerged in water now littered with big heaps of leaves and debris.

Between midday and 2pm, the New South Wales State Emergency Service pulled 21 people from cars bogged in flash flooding in the Sydney metropolitan area, according to a spokesperson.

The downpour caused public transport to grind to a halt, closing the L2 Randwick and L3 Kingsford light rail lines, and causing hold-ups on train services due to flooding at Strathfield, about 12 kilometers out west of the city.

Transport for NSW put out a caution warning asking people to "take extra care" at train stations and on trains, as Sydneysiders shared photos on social media showing floodwater pouring down the stairs at Town Hall station in the city and collecting by the warning signs on the wet floors. It persisted on Monday night.

People living in more than a dozen suburbs across western and greater Sydney were advised to stay indoors by the NSW SES as the storm rolled in, including Bondi and Maroubra beaches, the CBD of Sydney, Parramatta and Penrith.

By about 1:30 pm, the warning had been downgraded, but the State Emergency Service recommended driving slowly and giving a wide berth to trees that have fallen, power lines and any damaged buildings.

“Even if you do come across a flooded road, it's always best not to take the chance,” an SES spokesperson said.

Tomorrow's forecast for Sydney is looking pretty wet with a good chance of showers and a possible storm, with some places expecting up to 25 millimetres of rain.

Mondays afternoon out in the Bureau of Meteorology had an update from Miriam Bradbury, with a warning the threat to the east was still there and likely to hang around for a while yet. Heavy falls, strong winds and large hail were set to hit the region.

Folks on the south coast from Ulladulla to Merimbula were asked to stay inside on the Monday night, with six hourly rainfall totals reaching as much as 150mm and potentially life-threatening flash floods predicted for Tuesday arvo.

– with Petra Stock