Towns in northern New South Wales are bracing for another bout of possibly life-threatening flash floods, with the State Emergency Service ordering parts of flood-hit Lismore to move out of harm’s way.
The NSW SES on Monday issued an evacuation order about 7.30pm for North Lismore stating “residents must evacuate by 9pm”. Residents of South Lismore were ordered to leave by 10pm.
SES spokesperson Ashley Sullivan said the evacuation orders were for low-lying areas.
“This is due to the increased risk from heavy rainfall overnight and the potential for moderate to major flooding early in the morning,” he said. “This is for the safety of yourself, the rest of the community and our emergency service partners.”
An evacuation order was also issued on Monday night for low-lying parts of Kyogle, 30km north-west of Lismore.
Earlier, Queensland police reported the death of a man at Kingsthorpe near Toowoomba after a vehicle with two people got trapped in flood waters.
“A woman was rescued and taken to hospital in a stable condition for treatment, however, a man was located deceased in the ute,” police said, adding investigations were ongoing as they prepared a coronial report. “A number of dogs also died.”
The focus of emergency services was shifting to south of the Queensland-NSW border as a deepening trough threatened to develop into a low, including widespread thunderstorms, as the Bureau of Meteorology updated its warnings.
The severe weather warning for NSW has been updated and extended for a larger part of the coast:https://t.co/E0A4G0fr0O @BOM_au pic.twitter.com/9kEeHDMduA
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 28, 2022
“Locally intense rainfall leading to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding is possible, with thunderstorms with six-hourly rainfall totals in excess of 200mm, possibly reaching up to 300mm in six hours,” the BoM said.
“Damaging wind gusts with peak gusts of around 90km/h are possible about coastal areas during Tuesday, most likely from Tuesday afternoon onwards.”
In Lismore, the SES warned that low-lying properties, particularly in North Lismore, may experience impacts due to flash flooding and/or riverine flooding.
“Storm and flood impacts may interrupt essential services such as electricity, phones, internet, water and sewerage,” the SES said.
Another northern NSW town facing potentially “significant impact” was Bellingen, it said.
A separate flood watch said moderate to major flooding was possible for the Richmond, Wilsons, Orara and Bellinger rivers in NSW from Tuesday.
Minor flooding was possible for the Hawkesbury-Nepean River near Sydney. The harbour city was likely to collect 30 to 45mm of rain, the BoM said.
Heavy rain will spread over parts of southeast QLD and northeast NSW during the next 48 hours. Latest high-res modelling suggests the heaviest rain will fall along the coast and ranges between the Gold Coast in QLD and the Mid North Coast in NSW. pic.twitter.com/jLHBC9fR2l
— Ben Domensino (@Ben_Domensino) March 27, 2022
Helen Reid, a bureau meteorologist, said it remained unclear whether the trough moving across Queensland and into NSW would develop into an east coast low and remain near the coast or move further off into the Tasman Sea.
“It’s possible that the low would be farther offshore and not as problematic as a proper east coast low,” Reid said.
East coast lows typically pack strong winds along with heavy rain which not what residents or authorities want as NSW is still recovering from two such lows in a week, which struck earlier this month.
Overnight into Monday, rain totals topped 100mm in parts of the eastern darling downs and the Sunshine Coast hinterland, said Ben Domensino, a senior Weatherzone meteorologist.
“Everything is wet,” Reid said. “Even 20mm is going to cause flooding in some places because there’s nowhere for the water to go.”
The NSW SES said it was preparing “for significant impacts across the north coast from the Hunter to the Tweed”. It had set up two incident control centres at Metford and Grafton, according to an SES briefing.
The SES said it would have a flood rescue cell at Metford and airbases at Ballina, Coffs Harbour and Cessnock. The Australian defence force would be among the support agencies.
“Everyone needs to be on their guard the whole time,” Reid said. “It could well be in the early hours of tomorrow that is more problematic for NSW.”
Warm waters off the east coast of Australia, including off NSW, are contributing to the heavy rain fall events, meteorologists say. @BOM_NSW @weatherzone pic.twitter.com/B2dQ8W3QNE
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 28, 2022
Reid said warm waters off eastern Australia were contributing to the series of rainfall events, including the latest one.
“Combined with the surface trough, extra heat coming up from the oceans just enhances the lift of the moisture in the system,” she said. “It just all adds up to a recipe for a lot more rain and floods.”
The larger anomalies for sea surface temperatures were off the south coast of NSW, Domensino said. But those off the northern half of the state were between 0.5C and 1C above normal.
“Certainly this is the time of the year where we typically have the warmest sea surface temperatures anyway,” Domensino said.
He said the additional warmth “would be helping to cause evaporation and putting a bit more moisture into the atmosphere to help fuel this event”.
But he said the current rainfall would only last a couple of days. “The last system stuck around for more than a week in eastern NSW, but this one should move offshore a bit quicker.”
In Lismore, shop owners in the town’s central business district who were only just reopening four weeks after initial flooding were weary of further flooding.
The owner of the Floret florist on Woodlark Street in Lismore, Sue Cramp, said she was only just beginning to take orders again after weeks of intense repairs.
She said she was praying that the fresh predictions of heavy rainfall did not cause flooding in Lismore again.
“Well I won’t say I’m not worried but I just don’t really want to think about it, to be quite honest,” Cramp told ABC news. “Surely it’s not going to happen.”
Lismore’s mayor, Steve Krieg, said between 2,000 and 4,000 people were still homeless in his region. He said his family, like many of those still homeless, was living in friends’ homes.
Of the rain predicted in the coming days, Krieg said “preliminary plans” were being put in place.
“The last thing we need at the moment is these rain bombs that are coming down,” he told the ABC. “Hopefully they’ll miss our catchment area and we’ll stay safe, but it doesn’t look good at the moment.”
