Third time unlucky as rising waters threaten Tumbulgum

“Paranoid, freaked out and fearful” northern NSW residents say they are sitting ducks in the path of another major flooding event, following a deluge of rain overnight.

Tumbulgum residents in the Tweed Shire are on tenterhooks after flood warnings were issued and roads to the town were temporarily blocked by floodwaters.

Since Monday, the NSW SES has performed 27 rescues across the Northern Rivers, including one man who was bitten by a snake while escaping rising waters.

Bald Mountain at Limpinwood recorded 307mm of rain, with other parts of the Northern Rivers exceeding 200mm.

Parts of Southeast Queensland, including the Gold Coast, were smashed by freak flash flooding on Monday, seeing cars and buses swept into fastmoving waters.

Tumbulgum resident Ross McLane, who experienced the 2017 and 2022 floods, said locals, particularly younger families, were “paranoid and freaked out” by the prospect of another major flood event.

“They are bloody scared, they don’t know what to do but us older generation have been through it all before,” Mr McLane said.

He said the 2022 flood disaster saw floodwaters reach his second storey balcony.

“There were two-foot waves coming through the loungeroom,” he said.

“We lost two cars, there was mud everywhere.”

Mr McLane and neighbour Noel Emzin said they had their houses raised after 2022.

On Tuesday, the pair, who say the Tumbulgum community is “extremely tight-knit” were washing mud off the road from floodwaters overnight.

“The only way I can describe the atmosphere at the moment for many people here is panic,” Mr McLane said.

Mr Emzin said council still had not learned.

“The SES are usually pretty good but as a community we took it into our own hands to communicate and look out for one another,” he said.

Resident Brad Farmer said locals “become twitchy at the sight of storm clouds”.

“They are flood fatigued to say the least,” Mr Farmer said.

“On Monday we became stuck then the waters rose much higher. It seems to have flooded so much more frequently over the last few years.”

In a statement from the NSW SES, flood rescue specialists have been deployed to the region to assist.