Clean-up begins as waters recede after devastating NSW floods

Residents of the Mid North Coast are reckoning with the scale of devastation wreaked by the NSW flood disaster as businesses open their doors and begin the clean-up after days of wild weather and heavy rain.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has announced grants of $1 million for councils hit by emergency orders, while police confirmed the death of a fourth person in floodwaters in the state’s north.

As the weather system shifted south, bringing flash flooding to parts of Sydney, emergency services workers began to turn their attention from rescues to supply runs for the more than 50,000 people who remained isolated.

Receding floodwaters at Taree allowed emergency vehicles to reach the city on Friday after being cut off for days. Businesses have begun to clear debris from inundated stores following the city’s CBD evacuation earlier in the week, with destroyed furniture, sandbags and clothes piled on footpaths.

Ahmed al-Abboodi, who owns The Ocean Barber with his brother Mustafa, said while his business had been damaged and would remain closed, he considered himself lucky.

Locals start cleaning out shops and businesses along Pulteney Street in Taree.Credit: Kate Geraghty

“We’re lucky because the family is safe,” Abboodi said.

Additional medical staff have been flown by helicopter to the city’s Manning Hospital, while pregnant women in the area were warned to prepare “alternate plans” if they could not reach the hospital to give birth.

Kempsey’s CBD was still partially underwater, with about 50 businesses flooded. Skye Thurgood, 38, who has lived in the Kempsey area all her life, said she had never seen such severe flooding.

“A lot in the area don’t have flood insurance, it’s too expensive and in flood-prone areas some can’t afford it,” said Thurgood, who lives on a property outside the town centre.

“Livestock has had to be moved, paddocks we own have been inundated, it’s like an ocean.”

The SES has conducted 736 flood rescues since the disaster began and on Friday had 160 warnings in place, including 39 emergency warnings.

A road and shopping centre flooded in Kempsey.Credit: Kempsey Shire Council

A man in his 70s was found dead north-west of Coffs Harbour at 4.30am on Friday after his car was swept off a causeway, bringing the death toll from the disaster to four.

“My heart goes out to the people affected, of course, most seriously the four tragedies that we’ve seen with the loss of life, including the gentleman overnight,” said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as he travelled to flood-affected areas with the NSW premier.

Albanese warned that extreme weather events were becoming more frequent and more intense, while praising the “heroes” of the SES. “At the worst of times, we do always see the best of the Australian character,” he said.

On top of the $1 million grants to councils, Minns announced payments of $180 for individuals and $900 for families affected by the floods, all funded by the NSW and federal governments.

“It’s going to take more than these hardship grants to get these towns back on their feet, but I wanted to get the ball rolling,” Minns said.

More than 1600 insurance claims have been lodged in relation to the NSW flood disaster, and many more were expected in the coming days, the Insurance Council of Australia said.

A man dragging an esky through flooded streets in Macksville.Credit: Drew Hopper

“While we don’t expect this weather event will be as widespread or costly as 2022, insurers have already stood up additional capabilities to prioritise claims received,” a spokesperson said.

The coastal trough weather system moved south on Friday, easing pressure on the main flood zones but bringing drenching rain to Sydney, the Central Coast, the Illawarra and the Blue Mountains.

In Newcastle, residents were warned to stay indoors as 145mm of rain hit the city on Thursday night.

Communities along the Macleay, Nambucca, Hastings, Manning, Gloucester and Paterson rivers remained heavily affected.

While 16 schools reopened on Friday, 168 schools were closed across the state.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Jane Golding said: “Floodwaters will recede over coming days, but they are still dangerous. There is a lot of debris coming down through the river systems.”

The SES said it expected its main task on the Mid North Coast would move from rescues to resupplying the thousands of people cut off by floodwaters.

“A major focus now will be continuing to support those isolated residents, who may be stuck for several days until floodwater recedes,” SES Assistant Commissioner Colin Malone said.

A section of The Bucketts Way near Taree.Credit: Kate Geraghty

“We’ll be using boats and helicopters to help isolated people with food and medications, and also assist in transporting people to urgent medical appointments or other medical emergencies.”

After the death of the man in Coffs Harbour, acting NSW police commissioner Peter Thurtell again urged motorists not to drive through floodwaters “of any depth”, acknowledging they were sometimes hard to distinguish from wet roads.

“It can be disorientating,” Thurtell said. “Often it’s the case that we will never know whether they accidentally drove into the floodwaters.”

A 60-year-old woman died in floodwaters on Wednesday. Police also discovered the body of a man in his 30s on Thursday, west of Wauchope, after he became stuck on a flooded road while driving the night before.

Another man, 63-year-old David Knowles, was found dead at a flooded home near Taree on Wednesday.

A 49-year-old man who went missing two days ago from Nymboida, south of Grafton, after being seen walking near a flooded roadway, was found alive and well on Friday, police said.

Flood-affected residents of NSW will be able to access the Disaster Recovery Allowance from Monday. It provides up to 13 weeks of fortnightly payments to people who can’t work or will lose income.

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