News

The NSW SES continues to respond to severe weather that continues to affect coastal areas of New South Wales.

The worst affected areas have been around the Mid-north Coast and southern areas of the North Coast. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, approximately 150mm of rain fell around the town of Yamba since midnight, which led to the short-term isolation of the town’s 6000 residents.

A number of other properties remain isolated by floodwaters:

• Shannondale, Braunstone and Middle Creek - 132 properties, population impacted 332
• Wooli, Minnie Waters and Diggers Camp - 400 properties, population impacted 800
• Thora / Darkwood - 200 properties, population impacted 500

The NSW SES has received a total of 2576 Requests for Assistance (RFA’s) since the commencement of this event. There have been approximately 400 calls for assistance since 9am this morning, mostly in Sydney and the Mid-north Coast.

There have been a total of 71 Flood Rescues for this event. There have been 12 rescues today, most of these in the New Italy area in the lower Richmond Valley where there was flash flooding. These are mostly for people driving in floodwaters.

The majority of other requests for assistance relate to roof damage, leaking roofs and sandbagging to prevent water entering premises.

The NSW SES is well prepared and ready to assist affected communities. NSW SES has 3 helicopters currently prepositioned at Ballina, Coffs Harbour and Taree. All aircraft have rescue capability. The Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter is currently at Taree to provide rescue capability overnight.

Since the start of the event 189 Members have been deployed in support of the current situation and there are 180 teams comprising 650 volunteers on stand-by.

NSW SES are supported by other agencies including Fire and Rescue NSW who deployed Flood Rescue personnel to the Mid North Coast Region yesterday. Police Rescue have deployed 4 Flood Rescue personnel, located at Kempey.

There are four current flood warnings for the Orara (moderate), Bellinger (moderate), Coffs Creek (minor) and Hastings (minor).

For the latest flood warnings go to www.bom.gov.au/nsw/warnings

NSW SES State Operations Centre has an expanded roster for increased operational response with Planning, Public Information, Logistics and Intelligence functions supporting volunteers in the field and the ensuring community preparedness.

If you require emergency assistance call the NSW SES on 132 500 or 000 if it is a life-threatening emergency.

For information on river heights and the latest weather, go to the Bureau of Meteorology at www.bom.gov.au/nsw