Flood conditions in NSW are expected to worsen through Thursday, with at least 48,000 people already stranded, mainly in the town of Taree, which is experiencing its highest rainfall and worst floods on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that the dangerously wet conditions will linger as a slow-moving coastal trough unleashes widespread downpours across the Hunter Valley and Mid North Coast as well as the Northern Tablelands, Northern Rivers, and North West Slopes and Plains Forecast Districts.
“A persistent and very moist onshore flow to the south of the trough continues to cause widespread areas of rain across the region, with embedded heavy showers and isolated thunderstorms,” the BoM warning read.
The BoM warned of the potential for continued locally intense rainfall leading to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding, with communities in and around Kempsey, Coffs Harbour, and Nambucca Heads most at risk.
In these areas, six-hourly totals of 100mm to 150mm are expected, with 24 hour totals reaching up to 300mm.
More than 100 flood warnings were in effect on Thursday morning, with over 20 alerts urging residents to evacuate immediately.
Rescuers have carried out helicopter rescues for people stranded on rooftops and balconies.
NSW State Emergency Service Commissioner Mike Wassing said conditions were making rescue efforts “extremely difficult and dangerous”.
“I cannot guarantee that our crews will be able to immediately rescue people if you do not evacuate and heed the warnings,” he said.
“We currently have more than 48,000 people that are currently isolated due to the floodwaters and we’ve already had 1,000 incidents and 355 rescues in the last 24 hours—again mainly in the Taree, Wingham, and Glen Thorne areas.”
Business NSW Mid North Coast regional director Rod Barnaby said there were “a lot of people” stranded, particularly in the disaster’s epicentre of Taree, which has been drenched with five months’ worth of rain in just 48 hours.
“There’s a lot of people still isolated at the moment, we’ve had really heavy rain over the last few days on the Mid North Coast,” Mr Barnaby told Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood.
“The worst-hit area at the moment is Taree, they’ve had over five months’ worth of rain in the last 48 hours.
“There’s people being evacuated off rooftops. So it is a fairly serious situation and we’re expecting more flooding across the Mid North Coast.
“Certainly from a business perspective, businesses are going to be really severely impacted on top of what’s been a really difficult 10 years for businesses in this region.”
