EMERGENCY services were forced to evacuate 120 people from a town in southern NSW, and the army was called in to help protect properties at nearby Wagga Wagga, as record rains wreaked havoc across the region.
The rising torrent in Kyeamba Creek forced the inhabitants of Ladysmith from their homes last night and 185 personnel from the Kapookao army base used sandbags to protect homes in Wagga Wagga from flash flooding.
The town received 98 millimetres of rain in the 12 hours to 9pm last night. With the rain still falling, the record for the most rain in 24 hours - 104.1 millimetres - was set to be broken.
About 30 people in rural properties between Ladysmith and Book Book have been isolated.
South of Narrandera, police and volunteers rescued the occupants of four vehicles trapped by floodwaters washing over the Newell Highway.
''They were driving down the road and found themselves in trouble,'' an SES spokesman said. ''When they tried to back out they got stuck.''
Last night the Newell, Hume, Cobb and Sturt highways were all closed, and rail services between Junee and Wagga Wagga were effected.
As of 10pm, the SES had received 120 calls for everything from broken roof tiles to flooding.
''This is intense rainfall for that part of the world,'' said the senior forecaster at the NSW Bureau of Meteorology, Neale Fraser.
''The falls in Wagga in the past 12 hours are more than double the average rainfall for March.''
Victoria was also struck by a weekend of severe thunderstorms. On Saturday, Melbourne received more rain than it would usually see in a month.
Hailstones as big as tennis balls were reported in Ferntree Gully, in Melbourne's south.
In south-eastern Queensland, flood warnings were still in place for more than 16 rivers and several towns were still cut off by floodwaters.
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