NSW flooding live updates: Taree, Mid North Coast, Hunter region rainfall continues; NSW SES evaucation orders grow
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the NSW Mid North Coast flooding, which has prompted a large-scale emergency response amid record-breaking rainfall.
With heavy rainfall expected to continue today, here’s what you need to know:
Evacuations are underway at dozens of points in northern NSW at 9.10am, with 34 separate emergency warnings issued by the SES.
A woman being rescued by a Fire and Rescue NSW team near Taree.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Some of the current evacuation orders are in place for:
Current warnings can be viewed on the SES website here.
Sydney is also expecting heavy rain today, though not at the extreme levels that are soaking the Mid North Coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology said between 15mm and 70mm of rain is expected in Sydney, with a chance of a thunderstorm.
A minor flood warning is in place for the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond and the surrounding area, with residents advised to stay informed.
The Nepean River at Menangle and South Camden is also subject to a minor flood warning.
Surf and swell conditions are hazardous along the Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast and Hunter Coast today.
As the weather system moves south, hazardous surf conditions will extend south tomorrow to include Sydney, the Illawarra, the Batemans Coast and Eden Coast, the bureau said.
More than 500 people have been rescued from floodwaters since the major emergency started in the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions.
The NSW SES has responded to more than 4100 incidents, including more than 1000 in the 24 hours to 5am on Thursday. Almost 340 people were rescued from floodwaters in the same period on Wednesday.
“We’ve seen continual rainfall and very fast flowing rivers, which when combined with flooded roads have made it very difficult to access some isolated people,” NSW SES assistant commissioner Colin Malone said.
“Our crews have been working through the night to complete flood rescues, but our message to people still awaiting rescue is to remain in safe locations, away from floodwaters in dry locations if possible.
“While dozens of rescues have been completed overnight, [calls for help] continue to be received, and the NSW SES and our partner agencies have helicopter resources, boats and high clearance vehicles responding when it is safe to do so.”
More than 50,000 people have been warned to prepare for isolation.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute after the body of a 63-year-old man was found in a flooded Mid North Coast home.
Police found the man’s body inside a home at Moto, north of Taree, around 3pm on Wednesday.
“This is devastating news that a man has died at a residence impacted by flooding on the NSW Mid North Coast,” Albanese said.
“The thoughts of all Australians are with his loved ones and the community at this time.”
Six major rivers in the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions have risen after record-breaking rainfall, triggering evacuation orders and causing major flooding.
The Hastings, Manning, Paterson, Hunter, Macleay and Williams rivers have swollen, with several expected to continue rising.
In Kempsey, the Macleay River has breached the levee, triggering evacuation orders in the CBD, while the rising Hastings River in Port Macquarie has forced residents in low-lying areas to flee. The Manning River in Taree has passed the previous record height of six metres set in 1929.
Minor flooding is also occurring in the state’s west along the Warrego and Darling Rivers.
NSW Premier Chris Minns says the state needs to brace for “more tough times” after a man’s body was found in a flooded home on the Mid North Coast.
Police recovered the 63-year-old’s body from a home on North Moto Road at Moto, north of Taree, around 3pm on Wednesday.
“It’s very sad,” Minns told the Today show.
“When there are these terrible natural disasters, they hit ordinary families in terrible ways and our heart goes out to, obviously, that man and his family and his friends, and the community’s going to be hit hard. We need to brace for more tough times over the next 24 hours, but I’m very grateful that we’ve got thousands of volunteers, and the local community has really rallied in the last 48 hours.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the state had to brace for “more tough times”.Credit: Sam Mooy
Minns said 2500 emergency services workers, including more than 2000 SES personnel, have been deployed to affected areas. More than 2000 volunteers were already in place when the storm front hit, he said.
“An unprecedented number of resources have been deployed to the operations area, but when you have these massive natural disasters, high winds, fast-moving waters, rising tides, it can be incredibly difficult,” he said.
Minns urged people to follow evacuation orders, listen to emergency services broadcasts, and not to drive through floodwaters.
The body of a 63-year-old man has been found in a flooded home on the Mid North Coast.
Emergency services were called to a property on North Moto Road at Moto, north of Taree, around 3pm on Wednesday after reports a body had been found in the home, NSW Police said.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
A woman has been rescued from her inundated home and winched to safety.
Footage captured by Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter crew shows the woman standing outside her home at Pampoolah, near Taree, holding plastic bags filled with her belongings.
“This is all I’ve got,” the woman tells her rescuer.
“I can’t take anything with me,” he responds. “I’m so sorry.”
Inside her home, floodwaters have climbed halfway up the walls, and furniture is stacked high to escape the rising river.
The woman was winched from her home and taken to a nearby evacuation centre.
Residents in parts of Port Macquarie are being told to evacuate ahead of hundreds of millimetres of rain falling on Thursday.
People in properties along the foreshore on Breakwall Drive and people in properties along parts of Short Street, Hayward Street and Buller Street have been told to leave their homes immediately.
Watch and act flood warnings are in place around much of Port Macquarie, with people urged to avoid low-lying areas along the Hastings River.
Major flooding is expected to continue in Settlement Point, Macksville and Port Macquarie today, the NSW SES said.
Up to 300 millimetres of rain could fall on the already battered Mid North Coast region in the next 24 hours.
Kempsey, where the Macleay River has breached the levee, and coastal areas around Coffs Harbour and Nambucca Heads could see up to 150 millimetres of rain fall in six hours, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Much of north-eastern NSW is expected to receive up to 150 millimetres in the next 24 hours, with warnings for possible life-threatening flash flooding still in place.
Hundreds of millimetres of rain have fallen since 9am on Wednesday, with 274 millimetres recorded at Moparrabah, west of Kempsey, and 262 millimetres at Bellingen.
The heavy rainfall is expected to continue throughout Thursday before clearing the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions by Friday morning, the weather bureau said.
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