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The Bureau of Meteorology has warned more wet weather is set to hit NSW today in a "large and widespread" event that has already seen hundreds forced to flee their homes for higher ground.

Thousands in western Sydney were in limbo overnight, many forced to flee their homes and others on standby as authorities warned rivers were continuing to rise and were expected to break flood records.

The SES issued at least 10 evacuation orders impacting residents in Greater Sydney, as the Hawkesbury and Napean rivers continue to rise. Streets in Penrith and Windsor already resembled canals late on Sunday as people left their homes for higher ground.

READ MORE: 'Beyond devastating': Large parts of Mid North Coast under water

Residents in other suburbs faced a sleepless night amid warnings to be prepared to evacuate immediately. Just before midnight, the SES was door-knocking in the Kempsey CBD telling people to evacuate as the town flooded sooner than was anticipated, 9News reporter Grace Fitzgibbon says.

The SES warned a peak was not expected for the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers in Greater Sydney's west until today.

"Major flooding is occurring along the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond where the river level is rising. Flooding is likely to be higher than any floods since Nov 1961," NSW SES said.

And for a state already in crisis, the Bureau of Meteorology warned last night that more drenching weather was on the way.

"While major flooding is occurring in Sydney's west, it's also important to be aware this is a large & widespread event," the bureau said on Twitter.

"Western NSW will see increased rain from Monday & many areas will see more rain on Tuesday."

https://twitter.com/gracefitz_9/status/1373612605508444172

Rescues as residents told to leave

Residents were evacuating in large parts of Western Sydney throughout yesterday, with wide-ranging SES orders including for Penrith, Mulgoa, Windsor, Jamisontown and North Richmond.

Some streets in Penrith were already submerged, with people seen traversing the roads in watercraft amid the evacuations.

Hawkesbury residents have been warned the flooding in the area could eclipse the 1961 disaster, with a prediction the river could reach 15.6m by Monday afternoon and continue to rise.

A group of 10 people had to be rescued by helicopter after a home became an island at Freemans Reach in the Hawkesbury.

https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1373590095090089985

Police rescued a woman moments before her car was washed off a road at Wyong yesterday.

The 80-year-old's Hyundai Getz was "pushed sideways due to the fast-flowing water" and was spotted by two officers who had arrived at the scene for an unrelated matter.

One officer, an acting inspector, entered the water on foot and retrieved the woman before the car was swept away into the Wyong River.

READ MORE: Middle-of-the-night evacuations as more NSW communities cut off

Inmates in Sydney's west were forced to shift prisons "for their safety" yesterday. Corrective Services said in a statement 35 minimum security female inmates from Emu Plains Correctional Centre and 15 minimum security female inmates from Bolwara Transitional Centre had been moved to Dillwynia Correctional Centre.

A further 25 female and male inmates at Amber Laurel Correctional Centre were moved to holding cells at other Sydney correctional facilities.

In Windsor, residents gathered to watch the waters rise to meet the town's recently-built "flood-proof" bridge.

"It needs to be higher," one resident remarked.

There were also worries the masses of debris carried along by the surging waters could damage the structure.

READ MORE: Couple loses dog inside home swept away by floods

In other parts of the Hawkesbury, citrus farmers hurried to bring in what they could of their crops before the paddocks were swallowed up entirely.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has said the Sydney floods are a once-in-50-years event, and warned that up to 4000 people could ultimately have to evacuate their homes.

Visit the SES website to stay up to date with evacuation warnings.

Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has granted approval to AstraZeneca for its COVID-19 vaccine to be manufactured in Australia.

The TGA approved the local manufacture of the vaccine today, following weeks of frustration over the slow rollout of imported doses.

The regulatory agency allowed the local use of overseas-manufactured AstraZeneca jabs on February 16.

READ MORE: Extreme weather across NSW causes COVID-19 vaccine delays

"Manufacture of biological medicines such as vaccines is a highly-specialised process and the establishment of Australian manufacture of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca by CSL – Seqirus has involved extensive work by both industry and the TGA over the last six months," the TGA said in a media release.

"Today's approval is a critical and very exciting milestone in Australia's response to the COVID-19 pandemic."

The vaccine is being manufactured at two sites in suburban Melbourne.

READ MORE: AstraZeneca vaccinations resume in Europe after clot scare

CSL-Behring Australia in Broadmeadows are manufacturing the active raw vaccine material, while the final vaccine doses are being manufactured, vials filled and packaged at Seqirus in Parkville (a CSL company).

The TGA will still have to approve every batch of vaccines produced by the facilities, though it is anticipated the first approvals are imminent and locally-made batches will be released in coming days.

The family of a missing Sydney mother allegedly murdered by a friend has expressed the agony of knowing she will never again return home to them.

Min Sook Moon, 49, was last seen walking along Rawson Street, Epping in Sydney's north-west at about 1.20pm on Monday, March 8.

Family members notified Ryde police of her disappearance after she failed to make contact with them on March 10.

Yesterday, Chulsoo Jung—- the man she had allegedly been having an affair with — handed himself in to police, which they say led to the discovery of the body buried in a Silverwater park.

Police allege the pair had arranged to meet to discuss their relationship and Jung strangled Mrs Moon during an argument in his car.

"Our family is devastated and still coming to terms with the loss of our mother, Min," Mrs Moon's son, Adam, said in a statement on behalf of the family.

"We have all been deeply affected by this tragedy, and it is very hard to know that she will never be coming home after being so cruelly taken from us.

"On behalf of our family, we want to thank the community for sharing our appeals for information, and also thank those who provided information to the police.

"As we continue to process this news, our family has requested privacy at this time."

After Mrs Moon's body was found flowers were placed at the door of the Korean grocery store where she worked.

A couple whose home was swept away by floodwaters on the NSW Mid North Coast on their wedding day remain separated by the extreme weather savaging the state.

Joshua Edge and Sarah Soars from Mondrook, close to Taree, were due to wed yesterday before deep floodwaters swept their three-bedroom home off its foundations and downstream.

And as if the devastation was not bad enough, on Sunday night the couple remained separated in Taree and Tinonee due to road closures, forced to borrow clean clothes from relatives as they struggle to piece their lives back together.

"All I wanna do is kiss Sarah and give her a hug but we're trapped still," Mr Edge told 9News.

"We obviously wanted to get married but we can get married in six months, 12 months a year. It is what it is."

This morning the couple told Today their devastation was worsened by having lost their pet dog, Lilly, and other animals in the water.

"Watching out home float past was devastating, we lost everything. Our little dog was in the house," Mr Edge said.

"We loved all our animals, the pain that they had to go through, I don't want to think about it. She (the dog) would have been so scared.

"The force of that river was unbelievable, to lift our home, it's just unbelievable. We've got nothing, my brother has given me clothes."

Ms Soars said the event occurred in a matter of minutes.

"Not even 10 minutes and it was out of our sight," she told Today.

"I'm lost for words, I don't even know what to say, everything we own everything we've worked hard for – gone."

One thing that was saved was a chest filled with precious possessions belonging to Mr Edge's brother Michael who was killed in a car crash 10 years ago.

The chest washed up on a beach 30 minutes away from where the couple live and was handed in.

Relatives of the couple have set up a Go Fund Me campaign which has currently raised more than $90,000.

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