Australians urged to flee from ‘worst flooding seen in decades’

RESIDENTS IN New South Wales have been urged to leave their homes as Australia’s most populous state has been hit with the worst flooding witnessed in decades.

Evacuation orders were issued for thousands of residents in the area after emergency services rescued hundreds of people from the water. On Saturday night alone, they responded to 66 calls for flood rescues.

The Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, confirmed that hundreds of people have been rescued from the waters.

Evacuation orders have been issued at multiple locations on the state’s mid-north coast, which Ms Berejiklian said was experiencing a one-in-a-100-year event.

She added: “Whilst we don’t think things will worsen on the mid north coast, definitely conditions will continue, so the rainfall will continue across the parts that have already been affected.”

Ms Berejiklian also said that parts of Western Sydney are being hit by a one-in-50-year weather event, with some locations recording more than 11.8 inches of rain since Friday morning, breaking records.

The Warragamba dam, to the west of Sydney, started overflowing yesterday and 13 evacuation centres have been opened across the state. More evacuations are expected as the bad weather is forecast to last into the middle of the week.

Local authorities are urging people not to drive through flooded areas as they could get easily swept away by the strong currents. Residents are scrambling to take stock of the damage and prepare for the rising tide. Horses and livestock were seen floating along rivers and washing up on beaches yesterday.

Greg Cox, who lives in Raymond Terrace to the north of Newcastle, was watching the water slowly rise around his property yesterday morning.

“Once the water comes through … we just have to grin and bear it,” he said. “The only thing we can do is to lift everything high off the ground, especially the more valuable stuff. We’ve put stuff on top of my ute (utility vehicle), and on top of the beds, but that’s all we can really do. At this stage, I would say we’re going to have water coming through the downstairs part of the house by this afternoon, when the tide comes in.”

The rain has battered the region for days, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning that another four inches of rain was due to fall yesterday.

The bureau’s officials have already issued 14 flood warnings across the state, including a major flood warning at the Hawkesbury River at North Richmond.

The State Emergency Services (SES) have responded to thousands of call-outs as floodwaters have continued to surge.

Alistair Flower, a businessman and hotelier from Port Macquarie, said both he and his staff had been working hard to protect one of his venues.

“We’ve seen that the water is rising, and unfortunately the flooding has gotten into the basement and the bottle shop at our premise,” he said.

“We’ve had great work from the SES and my staff, who’ve been able to pump some water out, but it felt like a bit of a losing battle at times.”

Mr Flower owns the Hastings Hotel in Wauchope, which is located near the centre of town, and he said he never thought he would see the water rise above the intersection.

Once the water comes through … we just have to grin and bear it.

Greg Cox, who lives in Raymond Terrace to the north of Newcastle, New South Wales.