The severe weather warning along the NSW South Coast follows flash flooding that washed away vehicles and flooded campgrounds in Victoria.
Volunteer rescuers have been put in position to rapidly respond.
NSW SES chief superintendent Dallas Burnes said crews have been visiting high-risk areas, including popular campgrounds along the South Coast, warning holidaymakers of the danger.
“We are asking people to be particularly cautious if they are camping near creeks, rivers or lakes, as water levels can rise quickly and cut-off road access,” Burnes said.
“Heavy rain is forecast to continue for several days in some areas, and campers may become isolated if they do not leave ahead of the severe weather.”
Some campgrounds have already been closed as a precaution.
A low-pressure area developing off the coast prompted the severe weather warning for the state’s south, bureau meteorologist Angus Hines said.
“We’ll likely see some damaging wind gusts on Friday, up to about 100km/h. We will also see some heavy, persistent rain.
“This weather event does not wrap up quickly. We will see further rainfall piling into soaked parts of southern NSW throughout the course of the weekend,” Hines said.
Jervis Bay is particularly vulnerable to the damaging winds, the BoM warned.
Dangerous surf conditions have also prompted warnings from NSW Police advising people to consider staying out of the water and avoiding coastal activities like boating and rock fishing.
Coastal erosion from damaging surf is expected on Friday evening, particularly on south-east facing beaches from Cronulla south to Batemans Bay.
The hazardous surf conditions are likely to spread north to Sydney on Saturday.
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