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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:
- More than 48,000 people have been isolated by flooding on the NSW Mid North Coast, as unprecedented floodwaters cut off or inundate thousands of homes.
- Police say the body of a 63-year-old man has been found in a flooded home in Moto, north of Taree.
- The NSW SES has responded to more than 1000 incidents and carried out 339 flood rescues in the past 24 hours.
- The Manning River at Taree is at a level never seen before, breaking an almost 100-year record as it passed six metres early on Wednesday. Taree has experienced one-third of its annual average rainfall in the past two days.
- In Kempsey, the Macleay River has breached the levee and is still rising.
- Major flooding is expected to continue to impact Settlement Point, Macksville and Port Macquarie.
- Access to disaster funding has been activated at the state and federal levels.
- Severe rainfall could continue until Friday, including in Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, with totals of up to 150 millimetres expected. Up to 200 millimetres is forecast for some areas.
- Emergency warnings have been issued for more than a dozen towns in the region.
- Minor flooding is also occurring on the Warrego and Darling Rivers in the state’s west. A flood warning is in place for the upper Nepean, Hawkesbury and Colo rivers for possible minor flooding from Thursday evening.
- Andrew Gissing, the chief executive of Natural Hazards Research Australia, said the flooding was the biggest on record for the area, and “a one-in-500-year event”.
The weather phenomenon that has summoned an enormous amount of rain to northern NSW and unleashed unprecedented floods is an unusually stagnant coastal trough which parked over the coast on Monday and refused to budge.
Troughs are regions of low-pressure that bring in storm clouds and rain, and this one is feeding off moist winds blowing in from the ocean.
As a result, some rain gauges have clocked 600mm of rain – about four months’ worth – since Monday.
The weird weather system has summoned unprecedented floods and brought about record-breaking rainfall to some areas.Credit: BOM
“The air that’s getting drawn into the east coast is very, very humid. There’s a lot of moisture in that air available to rain,” senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology Angus Hines said.
“Secondly, [the trough] just has not moved. Since about Monday, it’s been sat in the same place, which means it has rained day, after day, after day this week. If it had only been one day and then it had gone, we would’ve seen some minor or moderate flooding but it wouldn’t have been too bad.
“But four days in a row of this amount of rainfall and we see this significant, extensive, widespread and major flood event happening in of front of our eyes.”
To the Kempsey Shire, which sits between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour on the Mid North Coast, where 23,000 residents are approaching 24 hours of isolation as floodwaters on the Macleay River are set to reach 7.4 metres this morning.
Mayor Kinne Ring said the community is bracing for flood levels not seen since 2001, with 250 millimetres of rain expected to fall today.
“We haven’t had any loss of power or telecommunications, but people running out of food and medicine, that is something we’re worried about,” King said.
“We’ve just had a lot of local rain, and we’ve had a wet April with ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the water is coming down and is staying.”
Kempsey Mayor Rinne King posted this image of flooding on social media yesterday.Credit: Facebook
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:
- Kempsey CBD and East Kempsey
- Parts of Port Macquarie
- Parts of Nambucca
- Parts of Taree and Dumaresq Island
- Low-lying parts of Macksville
- East Bellingen
- Parts of Wauchope
- Parts of Settlement Point
- Parts of Dungog and Paterson
- Low-lying areas of Wingham
- Low-lying areas of Bowraville
- Gloucester Caravan Park
- Parts of Bulahdelah
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.
