Latest news with #BurrillLake
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
‘Gives everyone a bit more hope': NSW grateful for wild weather reprieve but many face damage worth thousands
After days of torrential rain and damaging winds, a break in the wild weather has provided a much-needed reprieve for residents of New South Wales. A 'vigorous coastal low' wreaked havoc on Australia's east coast this week, drenching catchments, leaving thousands without power, causing flight cancellations and fuelling dangerous ocean swells with waves as high as 13 metres. As the weather eased, State Emergency Service crews – which had responded to more than 4,000 incidents by Thursday – were assessing the damage and helping people recover. 'Our SES volunteers, who are doing a remarkable job, are out actually helping to repair and make safe roofs and windows and also cutting down trees to make properties and roads accessible to everybody,' said the deputy commissioner Debbie Platz. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email About 3,900 customers remained without power at 2pm on Thursday, according to network operators Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy, down from a peak of 37,000 on Wednesday. In Burrill Lake on the NSW south coast, Rian Gough was still waiting for the lights to come back on at her cafe, Rosie Oats, after most of the village lost electricity on Tuesday night. 'There is blue sky and the sun is shining, so it kind of gives everyone a bit more hope,' said Gough, who estimated the outage had cost her thousands of dollars in lost income and produce. 'I'm just literally throwing everything into the bin and taking it up to the tip, and hoping that the power comes on today so I can maybe open tomorrow and sell some coffees,' she said. On Thursday afternoon, Long Jetty Family Takeaway on the Central Coast was also waiting for the power to come back on. At the peak of the storm on Tuesday, strong winds tore off part of the roof and the business lost power. 'We can't do anything until the power is back,' said the co-owner Pauline Ureta. As the cleanup continued, the Environment Protection Authority advised people to avoid contact with waterways affected by heavy rain or flooding, particularly where there were signs of pollution such as discoloured water, unusual smells or debris on the surface. 'These events can wash pollutants such as litter, animal waste, green waste and oils into stormwater drains and then into rivers and beaches,' an EPA spokesperson said. 'Community members are encouraged to follow advice from local councils and the Beachwatch website, particularly during the upcoming school holiday period. These updates may include closures of specific waterways due to health and safety concerns.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Insurers have received fewer than 1,400 claims, according to a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of Australia, who said the weather event was 'thankfully not as severe as it could have been'. For affected residents and businesses starting the cleanup, the council encouraged people to prioritise safety, document any damage and speak to their insurer. 'Where water damage is evident, a qualified electrician should inspect the property before the electricity can be turned back on. It's also important not to drive cars that have received water damage,' the spokesperson said. Dry and mostly sunny conditions were expected for NSW on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, although hazardous surf and the potential for riverine flooding would continue. Boaters were urged to keep off the water over coming days, as dangerous swells, strong winds and debris continued to create hazardous conditions. People travelling on the roads or public transport were still advised to check conditions and allow extra travel time, according to Transport for NSW. Wamberal resident Mark Lamont, from the Save Our Sand community group, said the beach was in remarkably good shape – except for the very south end – after the storm dumped massive amounts of sand. 'It's sunny here this morning at Wamberal, people are walking their dogs, and the beach is buff – just full of sand.'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Climate
- The Guardian
Floods, wild winds and power cuts: inundated NSW south coast holiday haven braces for more heavy rain
In Burrill Lake, the rain has stopped – for now. Overnight, the small New South Wales south coast town was pummelled by heavy rain, high winds and large swells. Combined with the high tide in the early hours of the morning, the lake began to flood, inundating homes and businesses. 'The wind's relentless, we've got half the park underwater and we're just hoping the rain stays away,' Dolphin Point Tourist Park owner, Frank – who asked for his surname not to be used – says on Wednesday morning. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'Unless the rain stops [for good], the water's not going to have an opportunity to get away. We just need a bit of a break.' Frank's business is one of about 200 Burrill Lake properties the State Emergency Service said were inundated by flood waters triggered by a vast coastal low which brought damaging winds, heavy downpours and wild seas to a swath of the state's east overnight. The Bureau of Meteorology measured 224mm of rainfall in Ulladulla, just to the north of Burrill Lake, in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday. About 37,000 properties were affected by power outages across the state, including Burrill Lake, which has been without power since 8pm on Tuesday. The BoM expects a 'second surge' of low pressure on Wednesday night will bring a further burst of rain and wind to the south coast of New South Wales, and eastern parts of Victoria. 'Another 50 to 100mm is quite likely today and tonight,' BoM senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said. 'That's on top of the 100 to 200mm that we've already seen, particularly through parts of New South Wales.' Frank says he's taking things 'hour by hour' and waiting to see what the next high tide – shortly before 3pm – brings. 'The problem is with the big tides and the big swells – that's where the drama is. The worry is the next high tide [and whether] water breaches the wall at the front. We just have to wait and see,' he says. To the caravan park's north, the owner of Rosie Oats cafe is also hopeful the break in the rain holds. 'As long as the rain stops – like it has stopped now – then the tide shouldn't do too much more damage,' says Rian Gough. She ordered 200 litres of milk in preparation for the school holiday crowds she expected to serve in her cafe this weekend. Instead – along with a bumper stock of eggs, meat, bread, fresh fruit and vegetables delivered on Tuesday – the milk is going nowhere but the bin. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion When she arrived at her cafe from her home north of Ulladulla early on Wednesday, its outdoor furniture had been carried by flood waters into the road. Her produce was no longer cool and her packaging, stored behind her cafe, was waterlogged. Still, Gough says she is 'thankful' that her business was not inundated by the flood waters which she says peaked between midnight and 4am on Wednesday. Her parents' home was flooded, as were at least 40 to 50 other homes nearby, she says. 'It's receding a lot now, but there are still areas where there is a lot of flooding and damage,' she says. 'There's a lot of debris from the lake, there's a lot of dirt that's been pushed up from the surrounding gardens. The major thing for me is all the produce loss – but these things happen.' Parts of Burrill Lake are beginning to have power switched on, she says. More than 200km north, Sydney resident Frank Owen is uncertain about the fate of his holiday home in Burrill Lake's north. The property is in a zone in which residents were advised by the SES on Wednesday morning to 'shelter now' due to dangerous flooding. Owen says the area is vulnerable to flooding and his holiday home was last inundated four years ago – but, given the power outage and the impact of the flood on the mobile phone network, he has not been able to find out how badly it was affected overnight. 'We're just waiting to find out,' he says. 'I'm not even sure if mobiles are working down there.'
