Almost 800 properties 'uninhabitable' after record floods on Mid North Coast

Australia Broadcast Center

27-05-2025

Almost 800 properties have been declared uninhabitable as a massive clean-up and recovery operation continues in the wake of record-breaking floods in New South Wales.
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."