Residents in a Sydney beachside suburb have been left waist deep in mud with debris throughout their homes after a water main burst.
Worse still, residents from the five damaged homes in Bilgola, on the northern beaches, have been evacuated because part of a road collapsed under a fire truck on the hill above them.
About noon (local time) the NSW Fire and Rescue fire engine was teetering on the edge of the slope on The Serpentine.
Its back wheels were stuck in a three metre-wide hole.
The truck was on the edge of a hill. Below it sat dozens of beachside homes.
Residents reported two landslips about 4.30am and 7am on Tuesday.
Long-time resident Libby Meggitt said she woke up about 4.30am to what sounded like a waterfall.
"I think it was probably the landslide that woke me," she told AAP.
"And then my husband thought it was the storm.
"I said 'how come there is a storm out the back and not one out the front?'"
Mrs Meggitt has spent the morning wading through the mud that has poured down the side and back of her home.
The landslip was so strong it broke her laundry windows and came through the door.
"The laundry tubs are full of rubble," she said.
Mrs Meggitt said police had told her to evacuate while authorities attempt to move the fire truck.
"They were really worried if it rolls, it could send something into the house which could do something to the hill," she said.
Another resident, Jane, said she has mud and debris about waist deep at the back of her home.
Some mud had spread throughout the bedrooms and laundry on the bottom level of her mother's home.
"It's going to cost a fortune (to clean up)," she said.
Residents are hopeful they will be allowed back into their homes by Tuesday night after engineers rule the hillside is stable.
A crane is being brought in to help lift the 14-tonne fire truck upright.
Water has been cut to the area, including to surrounding streets unaffected by the landslip.
Sydney Water confirmed it took three hours to shut the water off after the main burst.
In a statement the authority said it was first contacted at 3.50am and the water shut off at 7am.
"Sydney Water apologises to residents for this burst pipe and our crews will be working hard throughout the day to repair damage and reconnect water supply," the statement says.
However crews can only start repairing pipes once the fire truck has been moved from the roadside hole.
Crews started the process of getting a crane in place to pull the truck upright.
