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With Lismore’s dump underwater, it’s a mammoth cleanup ahead
By Laura Chung
Tracy Dwyer has seen and prepared for floods before, but she’s never seen anything like the one that swept through Lismore on Sunday night.
Ms Dwyer, who co-owns Minarelli Smash Repairs with partner Matt, has a mammoth clean up task ahead of her. The office is covered in mud, with the computer and any paper completely destroyed. It could be several days or even weeks before electricity is restored to the area.
Tracey Dwyer, owner of Minarelli Smash Repairs with friend Crystal Dwight.Credit:Brook Mitchell
“I’m scared what this will mean for us moving forward. We’ve lost everything,” she said.
As the rubbish piles up on the streets, residents begin to wonder where it will all go.
“In the 2017 flood, they took all the flood damaged stuff to Brisbane to be deal with it. But they’ve had their own floods so it’s got nowhere for it to go,” Crystal Dwight said. “Our dump is underwater - if we need a broom or something as simple as a bucket, there is nowhere to go.
“But this is when Lismore comes together. You hug people you’ve never met, you cry on their shoulder... you just get in and help each other.”
With no running water at home, Matt Dwyer took to showering the mud off at the business. Credit:Brook Mitchell
With fuel shortages in town, Ms Dwight, who runs Jazz Construction, said a farmer has donated 100 litres of diesel which will enable them to get the bobcat into town and move the growing pile of rubbish that lines the street.
“We’ve been through floods before but this is beyond,” Ms Dwight said. The business owners say without financial support, they won’t be able to get back on their feet.
Ballina District Hospital reopens after avoiding flood
By Jenny Noyes
All patients have now been returned to Ballina District Hospital after spending the past two days at Xavier Catholic College, where they had been evacuated due to the threat of flooding, NSW Health has confirmed.
Temporary health services, including a makeshift emergency department, had operated at the school until risk assessments were carried out and the hospital – which escaped flooding – was declared safe to resume its operations.
Northern NSW Local Health District staff worked with emergency services to safely transfer all patients back to the hospital, NSW Health said.
All other hospital emergency departments in the region remain open.
However, some other health services in the area have been affected by the floods.
Brisbane clean-up efforts halted by more storms
By Cloe Read and Jocelyn Garcia
Brisbane’s volunteer “mud army” has been ordered to stand down, delaying the flood clean-up following wild weather and more uncertainty over the rest of the week, as an emergency alert was issued for the city.
The Brisbane City Council issued an emergency alert about 4pm, advising isolated severe thunderstorms could continue on Friday and into the weekend across the city, warning creek catchments would remain saturated and further rainfall could result in flash flooding.
Floodwater in Brisbane.
Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner announced the volunteers – known as the mud army – working to clean up the south-east would not be able to proceed due to advice from authorities to stay home during the severe weather warnings.
Rumbling thunderstorms and rain returned to the state’s south-east on Thursday morning, and more severe conditions are forecast for areas north of Brisbane to Bundaberg, including Moreton Bay, the Sunshine Coast, Gympie and Wide Bay.
‘It’s like betting on a horse’: some relief in Windsor after high-stress night
By Daniella White
Windsor residents are used to floods, it’s often just a case of how bad it will get.
After a night of high nerves, there was a sense of relief on Thursday afternoon across the outer north west Sydney suburb after the predicted flood peak of 14 metres was downgraded.
The Bureau of Meteorology says the Hawkesbury River at Windsor may peak near the major flood level (12.20 metres) on Thursday evening. An extended and higher flood peak is also still possible.
Frank Obid has watched flood waters come close to his home every year for the past three years.Credit:Flavio Brancaleone
Frank Obid has watched flood waters come close to his home every year for the past three years since moving from Blacktown.
“When I came here, the first one I walked out and went, ‘holy hell look at that’,” he says. “You don’t really know it until you actually stare it in the face”.
He packed his bags and was ready to leave town when he heard the predictions the floodwaters could exceed last year’s levels, but stuck around when the conditions were more favourable and the predicted 240 millimetres of rain did not eventuate.
“You can’t predict, it’s like you’re betting on a horse,” he says. “When they thought it was gonna hit 15 metres plus, I thought ‘well I better start packing’. So I’ve packed and I’m ready to go”.
Andrew O’Connor and his family bought a house in Windsor a few years ago because it was cheaper than everywhere else. The downside is the frequent risk of frequent flooding.
Andrew O’Connor contemplated evacuating on Wednesday night when the forecasts were more ominous.Credit:Flavio Brancaleone
“It’s nerve wracking,” he says. It also makes insurance costly, with their bill increasing $500 after last year’s floods.
But he says they’re luckier than others who own slightly lower properties and are unable to find insurance.
“We were ready to bugger off last night,” he said.
Ken ‘worked until midnight’ moving his things out of the flood’s path
By Sally Rawsthorne and Wolter Peeters
For the third year in a row, Ken Anderson is battling a flood.
“They were saying it would be worse than last year’s, so I moved everything up out of the way of the water. Then they said it wouldn’t be as bad, so if that was true, I wouldn’t have bothered [moving everything],” he said.
Ken Anderson inspects his citrus orchard at Sackville North with his dog, Spotless.Credit:Wolter Peeters
“I worked until after midnight moving everything up.”
Outside the floods, the Sackville North man has had a tough few years.
Sydney’s COVID restrictions prevented his pick-your-own fruit business from operating last year, leaving the fruit from thousands of mandarin and orange trees – some of which are again under water now – to fall from the tree and rot.
“I got the June long weekend, but that was it,” he said.
Ken Anderson inspects the inundated sites at Ulibawn Ski Park.Credit:Wolter Peeters
NSW minister explains why Warragamba Dam doesn’t release water before heavy rain
By Josh Dye
Stuart Ayres, the Member for Penrith and Minister for Western Sydney, has just given an interesting explanation about why water isn't released from Warragamba Dam before heavy rain.
It's a strategy that residents in the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain often mention, given the spills from the dam largely contribute to the flooding in their neighbourhoods. Here's what Minister Ayres said on 2GB radio this afternoon when asked why Water NSW doesn't allow the dam to drop before heavy rainfall:
There’s a common misconception that you can release water from the dam early and that would allow us to create flood mitigation in the dam. The reality is you would need to ... take the storage capacity of the dam down to 40 per cent to have any meaningful flood mitigation capability.
Now to release that volume of water without causing any downstream flooding, we would have had to have done that months and months ago and you’d be taking a bet and betting 60 per cent of Sydney’s drinking water supply. That’s not a credible option, nor is it safe.
For people who think that you can release small amounts of water over a two-week period when you can see a weather forecast that says it might rain ... as that east coast low built up and the tides became higher, that doesn’t let water out of the Hawkesbury River at the ocean at the same rate it would come out [of the dam].
Releasing water into a catchment early fills that catchment with water. If that water doesn’t get out to the ocean, when the large rainfalls come you’ll actually increase the peak of the flood, not decrease it. I know this is a common misconception but people really don’t recognise how long it takes for the water to make its way out to the ocean.
And if you do those small releases, you’re never going to create enough airspace in the dam to hold a meaningful amount of water back.”
How police pulled a 93-year-old out the window of her flooded home
By Catherine Naylor
Two police officers who rescued a 93-year-old woman from a floating mattress in her house in South Lismore on Monday afternoon say the water was only 20 centimetres from her ceiling when they managed to pull her out a window, using a boogie board they found stuck in a tree across the road.
Standing on the lawn outside the house on Thursday, Senior Constables Ben King and Adam Davis said they couldn’t believe how long the 93-year-old had held on, waiting for rescue. Neighbours left their homes and climbed on to their roofs some time after 7.30am, as the water flooded into their houses, and the elderly woman was not found until the afternoon.
“She was absolutely buggered,” Senior Constable Davis said. “She’s a very strong woman”.
Senior constables Ben King and Adam Davis rescued a 93-year-old woman on a boogie board out her window. Credit:Elise Derwin
The two officers, who are based in Tamworth, were on their way to the Blue Mountains for a training course when they were told to head to Lismore instead, arriving on Monday morning.
“We were short a boat, then two young blokes from Lennox Head turned up with a boatload of people [they’d rescued], so we said, ‘can we come with you?’
As they approached the woman’s house in South Lismore, they said they could touch the streetlights outside and had to duck under the power lines, the water level was so high. A pair of trees now visible out the front were completely submerged.
Senior Constable King swam into the woman’s house under the front doorway, and as he entered he heard a faint “hello” and found the woman inside.
The officers needed something to rescue her on. They tried a kayak they found on a roof, but it was too big to fit through the window. Then one of the boaties spotted the boogie board stuck in the tree. They managed to make it work.
As they tried to get the woman from the boogie board into the rescue boat, they were pushed under the water themselves, despite wearing lifejackets.
“The current was extremely strong. I had to hang on to the window, and my legs were flailing about,” Senior Constable Davis said.
The officers and volunteers then motored back to the Bruxner Highway, where the woman was carried onto dry land and taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Major flooding possible at Windsor tonight: BOM
By Jenny Noyes
While most of the river heights around Sydney are steady or falling, at Windsor in the city’s north-west the Hawkesbury is still slowly rising and there’s a possibility of major flooding in the area tonight, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
Major flooding of the Hawkesbury is already occurring at North Richmond, as you can see in these aerial shots posted by NSW Ambulance from a CareFlight helicopter earlier this afternoon:
Even rising to major, the river levels at North Richmond and Windsor are expected to remain below those observed during the March 2021 event.
Couches, fridges, coffins: Strange items spotted floating down Hawkesbury River
By Sally Rawsthorne and Wolter Peeters
At the Caradon Leisure Park in Sackville, Greg and Karen Hill are playing bingo.
The married couple from Pitt Town have been coming to the caravan park for 15 years, where they spent Thursday with friends who also have caravans there. They spent the afternoon drinking champagne and spotting things floating down the Hawkesbury, alongside park proprietors Laurie and Jenni Rose and dogs Coco and Millie.
“We’ve seen a couch, a fridge, maybe a coffin,” Ms Hill laughed.
Laurie and Jenni Rose at Caradon Leisure Park in Lower Portland.Credit:Wolter Peeters
The couple spent the start of the week removing almost everything from their van.
“I’ve left the floorboards and the kitchen because they’re nasty jobs, but I reckon they’re coming out tonight,” Mr Hill said on Thursday afternoon.
Inside the van, a chest-height sticker bears the slogan “Flood level 2021”.
Caravan owners gather to survey the carnage on the river.Credit:Wolter Peeters
The river was swollen to five metres beyond its average height, Mr Hill said, as the tide ran out and the rain continued to hammer the corrugated iron roof.
“There’s nothing else we can do, so we’re just having a good time!”
Justin Rose, from Caradon Leisure Park, gets a close look at the flooding.Credit:Wolter Peeters
Federal and NSW governments release new flood recovery funding
By Jenny Noyes
The Commonwealth and New South Wales governments have announced a new $434.7 million support package for flood-affected communities in the state, to be released today to support farmers, businesses and local councils with the recovery and rebuilding process.
This initial funding is to help communities clean up and remove damage and debris, as well as further support flood-affected local government areas, according to a joint statement from the state and federal government.
Primary producers will soon be able to access grants of up to $75,000, while up to $50,000 will be offered to small businesses and non-profit organisations through NSW government agencies, with registration open now through Service NSW.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this package is the first phase of financial support for flood-hit communities.
“Farmers will need to restock and rebuild and small businesses will need help replacing damaged goods and shopfronts, and when more support is needed, more support will be given,” he said.
Further proposals for support have been sought from both the NSW and Queensland government, he said.
“This initial package is in addition to the federally funded $1,000 disaster relief payment and the 13-week income replacement for employees and small business, which to date has already paid out almost $63 million in a matter of days.”
The phase one package includes:
- $75,000 grants to assist primary producers that have suffered direct damage from the recent severe weather and flooding. NSW Government estimate this to initially be $111.5 million.
- $50,000 grants to assist small business and not-for-profit organisations that have suffered direct damage from the event. NSW Government estimate this to initially be $89.7 million.
- $210 million to assist affected communities with the clean-up and removal of flood and storm related damage, debris and green waste. This will enable LGAs to work with Resilience NSW and NSW Government agencies to coordinate clean-up activities in their communities.
- $1 million grants to impacted councils to assist with their immediate social, built, economic and environmental needs. This list may continue to grow.
- $6.5 million to provide Community Recovery Officers to support communities impacted by this event.
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2022-03-03 09:58:36Z
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