Editors note: Press conference is available at this link with NSW SES Commissioner Mike Wassing AFSM, NSW Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib and Commonwealth Emergency Management Minister Jenny McAllister and other representatives.
Note OLAY of NSW SES operations in the field starts at 41:07
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Communities on the Mid North Coast are warned the flood risk is continuing, despite the cancellation of a severe weather warning.
Residents at Wingham, Fosteron and Bandon Grove have been urged to prepare to isolate, as flood waters rise. NSW SES State Duty Commander Nicole Hogan said people within the warning area should be prepared to isolate for up to 24 hours.
“The flood water is not expected to peak until later on Saturday evening, which mean residents may find themselves stuck without power and other essential services,” Assistant Commissioner Hogan said.
“We do not want people taking unnecessary risks like driving through flood waters.”
Watch and act warnings are also in place for parts of Bulahdelah and parts of Dungog advising people not to enter flood water.
Flood water is expected to close some local roads, and we might see some inundation of low-lying areas.
An emergency warning remains in place for the Ferndale Caravan Park and and residents downstream of the Chichester Dam were advised to prepare to evacuate, due to an amber alert being issued for the dam.
In addition to the flooding in the state’s mid north coast NSW SES have continued to respond to storm damage from recent destructive winds.
In the Northern Zone, NSW SES crews have received 2285 incidents following damaging storms. Crews have been working to clean up the storm damage and restore power services. Power outages are still occurring in Port Stephens, Newcastle, Hunter, Central Coast and parts of Sydney.
The NSW SES, welfare services, local volunteers and local council services have opened Community Hubs in Port Stephens and Maitland to provide support to people impacted by the storms. Food and provisions are available, as well advice, support and information and charging stations for personal devices. Details of specific locations can be found on the NSW SES website.
Metropolitan Sydney has been the hardest hit area in NSW with 4110 incidents since Wednesday evening. The majority of incidents have been for fallen trees, damaged properties and vehicles.
NSW SES Metro Zone Acting Commander Stu Fisher said crews had been working well to clear the incidents.
“During the peak we were recording about six incidents a minute,” he said.
“Our volunteers, along with emergency partners have been working tirelessly to clear those incidents, however they keep piling up.
“We have around 1000 incidents left to get to which we hope to finalise over the weekend.
“Some are taking longer than we’d like as we need wait for fallen powerlines to be isolated before our crews are able to get in and remove the fallen trees.”
Incident totals:
Statewide: 7592
Metro: 4110
North Eastern: 101
North Western: 78
Northern Zone: 2285
South Eastern: 327
Southern Zone: 330
Western Zone: 341
State HQ: 20
Media enquiries: NSW SES Media on 1800 067 234