Almost 800 properties 'uninhabitable' after record floods on Mid North Coast
More than 3,500 people from NSW government agencies are on the ground in the disaster area in the NSW Mid North Coast and Hunter regions. They include 2,220 NSW State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers.
SES damage assessment teams have so far inspected more than 5,300 flooded properties.
SES spokesperson Matt Heap said the workload was intense.
"Our efforts today will continue to focus on resupplying the thousands of isolated residents, completing washouts and conducting damage assessments in communities," he said.
There are concerns that efforts to resupply isolated properties and communities with food and medicine could be hampered by more bad weather today.
Flights may have to be grounded with wind gusts predicted to reach up to 80 or 90 kilometres per hour in some areas.
MidCoast Mayor Claire Pontin said more than 2,000 flood-damaged buildings had been inspected across her local government area (LGA) so far, with about one in four deemed uninhabitable.
She said many more could be added to that list as inspections continue across the region.
"They're going through all the businesses and all the houses, and the number was up to 527," Cr Pontin said.
"It doesn't mean that it can't be repaired, it means that they can't be lived in for now."
The MidCoast mayor said it was possible more than 5,000 homes had been damaged by the floods across the LGA.
Cr Pontin said she had spoken to NSW Recovery Minister Janelle Saffin about emergency accommodation options.
"We are going to have a lot of people with nowhere to live," she said.
"[The minister] is looking into providing caravans and accommodation pods that can be dropped off in people's driveways.
"They can actually use that to sleep in and they will still be able to access their water and their power from their house."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese toured the flood-ravaged region today, announcing additional funding to support affected communities.
Residents in nine areas who have had significant property damage or lost a loved one will receive a one-off $1,000 payment.
Locals who have lost work in 19 flood-affected areas will also be eligible to apply for 13 weeks of income support.
Mr Albanese said those affected could apply for help from tomorrow afternoon.
"There are still massive challenges and we need to understand, and certainly the government understands, this isn't something that will go away in a matter of days or weeks, or even months," he said.
"This will take some time, the recovery."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
41 minutes ago
- ABC News
More floods on the way as torrential rain soaks parts of NSW
Emergency service crews are on alert as torrential rain falls over large parts of New South Wales, some of which are still recovering from recent flooding. The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) rescued a man from a van trapped in floodwater near Douglas Park, south-west of Sydney, on Thursday. The driver, who was the only person in the vehicle, was safely removed from the van on Moreton Park Road about 6am. The heaviest falls in the 24 hours to 9am were on the Mid North Coast. Several places recorded more than 100 millimetres, including Port Macquarie Airport (141mm), Lake Cathie (146mm), Green Valley (132mm) and Telegraph Point (104mm). Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecaster Christie Johnson said there was more rain on the way. "This weather system is actually the result of three weather systems combining," she said. She said a high-pressure system in the southern Tasman Sea was directing moist north-easterly winds onto the coast over warm waters, a coastal trough was giving some uplift, and an upper-level, low-pressure system had been sitting over inland NSW. "That upper-level system is actually going to make its way eastward towards the coast today, so that is just going to give some more uplift and oomph to the systems that are already bringing all this rain," she said. Ms Johnson said there was also the potential for thunderstorms to deliver short, sharp bursts of rain. "But we're more worried about riverine flooding than the flash-flooding risk in some places," she said. "It's just been accumulating and accumulating across yesterday and going to continue today. "Basically all the rivers through the Mid North Coast are covered by a flood watch at the moment, the catchments are quite wet so they will respond to this rainfall pretty quickly." SES Mid North Coast deputy zone commander Tony Day said residents in the area should draw on the experience of recent floods. "It's important for people to know their risk," he said. Heavy rainfall is going to make this situation very dynamic, so we need people to think about that risk and make good decisions." In the state's north, a major flood warning has been issued for the Namoi River, with major flooding possible around Gunnedah on Friday afternoon. More than 27mm of rain was recorded at the Gunnedah Resource Centre in the 24 hours to 9am Thursday. A moderate flood warning is in effect for the Peel River, with moderate flooding possible at Tamworth (48mm) overnight and into Friday morning. SES Acting North Western Zone Commander Stuart Fisher said emergency service crews and the general community were doing their best to prepare. "Given that the community has dealt with this 10 days ago, there is some fatigue," he said. "The catchments are very wet and unfortunately the Bureau [of Meteorology] has indicated above average rainfall going through to Christmas.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Fifteen rivers are at risk of flooding in NSW as saturated catchments receive downpour
Upgraded flood warnings are in place across NSW as the east coast braces for another day of relentless rain. Northern NSW is set for a deluge on Thursday, with 15 already saturated catchments in the region now under flood watch. The Peel River near Tamworth is tipped to reach minor flood levels overnight into Friday, while parts of the Namoi River along the North West Slopes are set to reach major flood levels of more than seven metres. Dangerous river conditions are already threatening residents, with a search under way for two missing people who crashed into the Macdonald River in the Hunter Region just before midnight on Wednesday. While the Macdonald River was not flooding at the time, the incident is being treated as a flood rescue by NSW SES due to the extreme rainfall impacting the region. 'We'd like to remind people that flash flooding can occur suddenly and without warning,' NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Colin Malone said. 'Please never, under any circumstance, drive through floodwaters. If you come across a flooded road, turn around and find another way.' Isolated falls cracked triple digits across the state overnight. In the 21 hours to 6am, the highest totals were 115mm at Port Macquarie, 113mm at the Maria River and 111mm at Lake Cathie, all on the Mid North Coast. 'Rivers across northeast NSW have responded quickly to the rainfall seen overnight,' Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Helen Reid said. 'As of 6am on Thursday morning, a flood watch for minor to moderate flooding remains current for much of northeast NSW, including the North West Slopes, Mid North Coast and into the Hunter.' Rainfall totals for Thursday are likely to be between 40 to 80mm across much of Australia's east coast, from the Gold Coast in Queensland to the Illawarra in NSW. The drenching is forecast to finally ease from Friday afternoon, as a coastal low pressure trough moves away from the east coast, drawing moisture and rainfall offshore. 'However, we are likely to see the impacts of any flooding that develops continuing into next week,' Ms Reid said.
ABC News
5 hours ago
- ABC News
High rainfall totals and thunderstorms forecast for south-east Queensland
A low-pressure system trough is expected to deepen today, bringing the possibility of high rainfall and thunderstorms in south-east Queensland. Forecasters said the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Darling Downs should expect more dreary conditions. Morgan Pumpa from the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the focus would be on the border ranges from Goondiwindi across to the Gold Coast. The chance of the heaviest rainfall and thunderstorms is on the Gold Coast, but Brisbane will experience shower and thunderstorm activity with rainfall between 7 and 40 millimetres likely. "It will depend on thunderstorm activity, but at Coolangatta we have a forecast of 15–70mm on Thursday alone, and 3–30mm on Friday," Ms Pumpa said. Areas around the Darling Downs and Granite Belt can also expect widespread rain, which could lead to river rises. "It's really important for people living in these areas to look at the radar and keep an eye on the shower activity, and stay up to date with all the latest warnings," Ms Pumpa said. "There's probably more of a concern over the border in New South Wales for flooding conditions, but for Queensland, we're focused on severe thunderstorm warnings." Senior meteorologist Angus Hines said the wet conditions were unusual. "Some places have already had above 50mm of rain, and when we add in what we're expecting during Thursday, we could see some spots over 100mm for the week, which is quite a wet week at any time of year, but particularly at this time of year." Last year, the BOM recorded 71mm of rain through August for parts of the south-east. Beyond the southern towns, Mr Hines said cloudy skies and some spotty showers were forecast from the Wide Bay to Mackay through Thursday. "You might see a small amount of rainfall in those districts without it really tipping the rain gauges over more than about one or two millimetres," he said. "We have a fine, clear and sunny day across central and western parts of Queensland." He said temperatures would be relatively cool across the south of the state and warm in the north. "It's been a cold couple of days around Brisbane [and] it's going to be on the cooler side of average again," Mr Hines said. "Western and northern parts of the state are a fair bit warmer with those clearer skies and sunshine, and in fact a lot of places in northern Queensland tending to be one or two degrees warmer than average for this time of year." Mr Hines said the rain would clear during Friday. "It could be a wet start to the day, but by about lunchtime it looks like most of that rain has gone," he said. "The rest of the state is heading for a pretty dry day." He said a sunny weekend was on the cards for most of the state. "A couple of showers are possible around the Capricornia and the Central Coast, but really minimal rainfall forecast anywhere across Queensland this weekend," Mr Hines said. "We're expecting to see far more sunshine than cloud cover."
