NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged flood-affected residents to expect the unexpected, as 1000 properties in northern NSW prepare for potential evacuation orders with moderate to major flooding predicted amid continuing heavy rain on Tuesday.
A moderate to major flood warning is in place for communities along the Tweed River in the state's far north-east, where another 200 millimetres has fallen in some areas since 9am on Monday – while the Mid North Coast is also on alert for flooding as the weather system moves south.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Helen Reid said there were several places in the state's north that had received more than half a metre of rainfall over the course of the three- to four-day event, and she expects a number of towns "will be putting their names in the [record] books".
The top statistic was at Terania Creek, near Nimbin, inland from Byron Bay, where 578 millimetres fell since Friday. That was closely followed by 575 millimetres at Limpinwood, in the Tweed Shire.
"That’s a lot of rain to go somewhere," Ms Reid said. "Fortunately for the Tweed, the rain has now eased," she said.
NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin said the intense rainfall in the Tweed Shire overnight had caused flash floods and prompted evacuation warnings to be issued in South Murwillumbah and Tumbulgum early on Tuesday, affecting up to 1000 properties.
Those warnings "may move to orders later in the day", he told Nine's Today program.
"As a result of some of that flash flooding, we've seen some roads cut and that will lead to some isolation of a number of small communities in that area as well," he said.
Focus shifts to Mid North Coast
As the rainfall system slowly moves south, Deputy Commissioner Austin said the focus of emergency crews would shift to the Mid North Coast.
Ms Reid said weather watchers would be carefully monitoring the Orara and Nambucca rivers on Tuesday, with parts of the Mid North Coast expecting to receive upwards of 100 millimetres.
Heavy showers are already making for treacherous conditions in some areas. Truck driver George Botfield was forced to stop ahead of a suddenly overflowing waterfall between Dorrigo and Bellingen about 9am, and ended up being stuck for three hours.
"It got really bad in a minute, would have been less probably," he said. "Just the mass volume of water coming down was pretty crazy."
Mr Botfield said it was not unusual for the aptly named Waterfall Way to get cut off by overflows during heavy rain, but said he had never seen it like this.
"I don't get paid enough to go through that," he said.
Ms Berejiklian told Today that 2020 had taught the state to "expect the unexpected", and urged residents in affected communities to heed warnings and follow advice – and stay out of floodwaters.
"We have to assume that conditions will be extreme and worse than we've seen them for a long time, for a number of years. That's why we're asking everybody to be extra safe," she said.
"We don't want to see lives lost and certainly don't want to see families have a difficult traumatic time this time of year in particular."
King tide event 'easing'
A king tide event coinciding with the record rainfall has decimated the coastline, particularly around Byron Bay. While the tides are still unusually high, Ms Reid said it peaked on Monday.
"The tides are still there but they’re dropping off," she said. The same goes for hazardous surf and strong winds.
Beach restaurant owner Ben Kirkwood, whose restaurant had to be sandbagged to protect it from the erosion, said the scene at Main Beach was "like being in the face of a cyclone".
with Sarah Keoghan
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Jenny Noyes is a journalist at the Sydney Morning Herald.
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2020-12-15 01:45:00Z
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