'Primal' storm, heavy rainfall results in wettest ever January recorded in Narrandera

Over 70 millimetres of rain fell on the Riverina town during a wild storm on Friday night and another deluge of rainfall on Saturday.

The NSW State Emergency Service responded to 65 calls for assistance in the town over the weekend, due to what Southern Zone Commander Ben Picker described as unprecedented destruction.

"A lot of the calls from the Friday storm were trees down on properties, cars and powerlines and then the heavy rain on Saturday generated a lot of requests for sandbags, leaking roofs and also flooding," Mr Picker said.

"Seeing the destruction caused by the thunderstorm on Friday night is definitely something we don't commonly see out this way."

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Mr Picker said the devastation was something you'd usually expect to see further north in the "cyclone areas".

He was pleased to say there had been no reports of injuries from residents or emergency personnel.

Narrandera mayor Neville Kschenka said the storm on Friday night was "primal".

"As well as all of the rain there were also really strong winds and we had trees and power lines collapsing everywhere," he said.

"When the storm was over and we found out there was even more rainfall coming on Saturday that was just horrendous to be honest."

Cr Kschenka said the amount of rain that fell on Saturday caused dozens of shops on the town's main street to flood.

"We've got a pretty large storm water drain but it was totally full so all of the water was just staying on the road," he said.

"It was really heartbreaking seeing the water go into the shops on the main street and not being able to do anything about it."

The flooding caused by the rain has caused significant carpet and floor damage in almost all of the Narrandera CBD businesses and also caused nearly two thirds of the Teloca House aged care home to be evacuated.

These aged care residents have now been transported to other facilities.

Cr Kschenka said repairs are well under way across the town but he expects it to be some time before the shire is fully recovered.

"It will probably take a couple of weeks to sort out residences and the nursing home but if we're talking about fixing roads and back lanes that could take months," he said.

"Our local member, who is also the Minister for Emergency Services, Steph Cooke came down to have an inspection and we're hoping she will be able to come up with some funding to assist."

Over 228 millimetres of rain fell in Narrandera over the course of the month, making it the town's wettest January ever recorded by the Bureau of Meteorology.

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