A huge low pressure system that brought flooding and strong winds to New South Wales over the weekend has combined with a king tide to bring widespread coastal destruction, forcing people to flee homes.

As towns from Lismore in the state’s north to Wollongong and south-west Sydney dealt with flooding, on Sydney’s northern beaches, a number of houses and a unit block were evacuated when the wild weather battered the coast.

People were removed from about seven houses and the unit block at Collaroy as large waves up to eight metres high continued to erode the coast, crossing 50 metres over the coastal road, police said. MORE