NSW Weather: Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary told to evacuate as Nepean River rises
NRL coach Ivan Cleary was forced to leave his home as the SES issued evacuation orders for residents in Jamistown, Mulgoa and western parts of Penrith as the Nepean River continues to rise.
NSW
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Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is among the Western Sydney residents forced to evacuate because of the rising floodwaters swamping the Nepean River.
The SES orders for evacuations was made for western parts of Jamistown, the northern end of Mulgoa and western parts of Penrith with flood levels expected to rise well above 10m by 9pm tonight.
Cleary, who is renovating his northern beaches house, has been living in a Ladbury Avenue property owned by his son Nathan, who has set up camp in the family home in Leonay.
The Panthers are due to take on reigning premiers Melbourne on Thursday night at their home ground at nearby Panthers Stadium.
To complicate preparations for the Storm clash, Penrith’s training grounds at the $22m Panthers Academy complex are also in danger of going under because of the deluge of rain and possibly being affected by the rising waters of nearby Peach Tree Creek.
Amid the evacuations in surrounding areas, there was hope the state of the art building would be safe because of its higher elevation.
Jamistown residents have been ordered to evacuate by 9pm tonight using the Great Western Highway evacuation route, while residents along Martin St between Mulgoa Creek and the Nepean River have been told to evacuate using the Mulgoa Road Evacuation route.
Western Penrith residents have already been told to get out by 4.30pm on the Great Western Highway on to Victoria Bridge towards Emu Plains.
PEAK FLOOD FEARS FOR WINDSOR
The Hawkesbury River at Windsor is likely to exceed the major flood level (12.20m) around 9pm Sunday. The river level may reach around 15.60 metres Monday afternoon.
Further rises are possible.
Residents in low lying areas of Windsor, Windsor Peninsular, South Windsor and Bligh Park should start preparations to evacuate.
Wherever possible, people should go and stay with family or friends, or make other accommodation arrangements. If you are unable to make any arrangements, an evacuation centre has been established at the Windsor RSL, 36 Argyle Street, South Windsor.
EMERGENCY PAYMENT PLAN
A $1000 emergency payment for each adult and $400 per child would be made immediately to people in the local government areas of Armidale, Bellingen, Central Coast, Cessnock City, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour, Dungog, Hawkesbury, Kempsey, Lake Macquarie, Maitland City, Mid-Coast, Nambucca Valley, Newcastle City, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Penrith, Port Stephens and Tenterfield who will be eligible for the federal government assistance after being impacted by the wild weather.
More areas will be added following further assessments in consultation with the NSW Government.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on Sunday briefed by Emergency Management Australia on the extreme weather issues in NSW and flooding issues.
Mr Morrison and Premier Gladys Berejiklian have also discussed the unfolding disaster, with the Australian Defence Force and any other federal assistance offered if the NSW Government requires it.
Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud said the emergency one-off payments were to assist people who had suffered a “significant loss,” including a severely damaged or destroyed home or serious injury.
“Our first concern is for the safety and needs of those directly affected, particularly those whose homes have been inundated by floodwaters,” he said.
“By making these payments available to the affected residents, the Australian Government will ensure that those who have lost or sustained damage to their homes or lost their livelihoods as a result of the floods will have the additional assistance they need.”
People impacted by the disaster may also qualify for the Disaster Recovery Allowance, which includes income assistance for up to 13 weeks, equivalent to the maximum rate of JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance.
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said Services Australia were on standby to assist in disaster affected areas.
“Services Australia Disaster Assistance phone lines are open now — the fastest and easiest way to claim disaster assistance is over the phone by calling 180 22 66,” he said.
Services Australia will also have mobile centres to provide assistance on the ground when it is safe to do so, and services can also be accessed online.
All mutual obligations for people on JobSeeker have been suspended for those in the local government areas impacted by the NSW floods until at least April 6.
RESIDENTS ON NEPEAN BLAME LACK OF COMMUNICATION
While some are predicting the state’s constant rain will result in the mighty Nepean River rising to 10 metres, Western Sydney residents whose homes are directly at risk of flooding say they haven’t been told anything.
Just hours after Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned an extra 4000 people may need to be evacuated, homes located on the banks of the overflowing river began becoming inundated with water, with backyards and lower storeys in many residences now flooded.
At Regentville, locals who have been intently watching the water level estimate it has risen by three to four metres since 8am.
There are fears it could rise by the same amount in the next few hours.
Despite the Premier’s warning for Western Sydney and Hawkesbury region residents, many locals say they don’t know whether to stay or go, having had no information from the government or a knock on the door from emergency services.
“I was expecting some calls or a text on the mobile phone saying when to get out, but you don’t know how high it’s going to get,” Jason Van Den Broek said.
“That’s the other thing, are the roads closed and if they are, how long’s it going to be?
“I’ve lived in Penrith all my life and I haven’t seen it like this before.
“We’ve seen it come up pretty high, we had it come up last year but only to half way up the path, but the dam was empty last year, that’s the difference.”
Next door to the Van Den Broek’s, the balloons from her daughters 18th birthday party last weekend are now floating at Janet Lloyd’s home.
With the water lapping at the edge of their brand new pool and they are already making plans about where they will spend the night.
“My oldest daughter will go to her boyfriend’s, my youngest will go to my sister’s and I’ll go with her,” Mrs Lloyd said.
“But see we’ve got show dogs and a cat as well, so what we do with them is another thing.
“We’ve had friends tell us they hear the water will rise by another four metres, but we just haven’t been told anything official.”
Homes are beginning to go underwater as the Nepean River continues to rise at a rapid rate just hours after Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned an extra 4000 people may need to be evacuated.
But for Kellee and Steve Wilson it is already too late to leave.
The couple’s home was the first on Bellevue Street at Regentville to go underwater — but it won’t be the last.
With the bottom floor of their two-storey home flooded, Mr and Mrs Wilson sat in their driveway with their son and his fiancee, looking on helplessly.
Having lived in the same home since she was a little girl and seeing it flood before, Mrs Wilson said she knows there is simply nothing that can be done.
“The highest I’ve ever known it to be is about up to shoulder height in 1977,” she said.
“There’s not much you can do. The floor is all tiled, you just have to deal with it, there really is not much you can do about it at all.
“At 8am it hit the back fence, and then at 10am there is a concrete area out the back and it hit that.
“And then once it hit there it came through straight into the house. We didn’t sandbag, there’s no point.“
On the Blue Mountains side of the Nepean River, the water began rising over parts of River Road by about 10am.
By 1.30pm it was lapping at Jim Hetherington’s driveway and threatening to sweep away the 70 fish in his front yard pond.
His two neighbours to the left - whose homes were both slightly lower - had evacuated early on Sunday.
Initially Mr Hetherington was inclined to stay, believing the height of his two-storey riverfront property would mean he would be able to ride it out.
“We’re pretty high up in the house and the flood water is only just coming across the pond now,” Mr Hetherington said.
“We’ll probably stay, I think we should be right.”
Deciding to try and save their fish, Mr Hetherington, his wife and their son tried frantically to use nets and hats to scoop them into buckets.
But within a matter of minutes the floodwaters had risen to his ankles and after a quick chat with his neighbour to the right, the decision to stay was now being reconsidered.
“As it gets higher I think it’s going to be hard to get out, and they’re saying it’s going to keep raining for the next three days,” he said.
“We might have to go now, I really just don’t know.”
PREMIER’S EVACUATION WARNING
The Western Sydney flooding came as Ms Berejiklian warned the next 48 hours will tell if more people have to evacuate from the area, as well as the flood-hit Hawkesbury region.
Authorities are increasingly focused on the Richmond community, the Hawkesbury Valley community, and parts of western Sydney, where a “one in 50 year” event is envisaged.
“What that means is that another 4000 people may be asked to evacuate in and around that Hawkesbury region and parts of western Sydney,” Ms Berejiklian said.
It will be known within the next 48 hours if that needs to occur.
Emergency services Minister David Elliott said disaster declarations for 16 local government areas will allow impacted residents to access assistance immediately.
Mr Elliott also issued a warning for people to not drive through floodwaters or put themselves at risk.
“The unnecessary risks that are being taken by these motorists is beginning to wear thin on the authorities,” he said.
“With the damage that has been done across the road network in this state, a fatality is getting more and more likely.”
More than 1500 people across NSW have already been told to leave their homes as “life-threatening” flood waters threaten to inundate the areas and evacuation centres hit capacity.
Residents in 18 suburbs across the state’s Mid North Coast and in Northern Sydney were told to pack their bags and flee to nearby evacuation centres as heavy rain caused flood waters to inundate towns and homes.
People living along the Hawkesbury River were ordered from their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning with fears the river could rise as much as 12 metres by lunchtime, cutting off power, water and other essential services.
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) issued the evacuation orders for Grono’s Point, Pitt Town Bottoms, low-lying parts of North Richmond, Cornwallis, Pitt Town North, Freemans Reach and North Agnes Banks.
Residents in low-lying properties along the Mid North Coast including at Port Macquarie near Settlement Point, the Lower Macleay, Kempsey, Wauchope near Kings Creek, Rawdon Island, Macksville CBD, Kings Point, Bullahdelah, Laurieton, North Haven, Dunbogan, Taree CBD, Dumaresq Island, Cundletown and Wingham were also told to evacuate.
Some residents are being told to prepare to stay overnight in evacuation centres or at friends and family’s homes as already drenched suburbs brace for more rainfall.
“For communities given an evacuation order, we are asking them to follow the directions of authorities on the ground,” an SES spokesperson said.
“For anyone asked to evacuate we do encourage them to have an emergency kit ready to go with medication and important documents they may need for a couple of days should they be unable to return home.”
In three other NSW suburbs, people are being told to prepare to leave their homes with evacuation warnings for low-lying areas in North Macksville, Gloucester and the Manning river at Wingham, Pattison and William Rivers at Dungog and Picton CBD.
The SES has responded to 870 calls for help since 7pm on Saturday, mainly relating to fallen trees, damaged properties, leaking roofs and sandbagging. This includes 85 flood rescues.
“This is a life-threatening weather event and we are encouraging everyone to follow the advice of the NSW SES. We need everyone monitoring the conditions and limiting unnecessary travel.”
Heavy rain and wild winds that led to major flooding and evacuations up and down the NSW coast on Saturday are expected to last for days, with the Bureau of Meteorology releasing yet another weather warning late Saturday night.
The warning said the mid-North Coast, Sydney, Illawarra, and parts of Northern Rivers, Hunter, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Tablelands should expect heavy rain and gusty winds, potentially leading to life-threatening flash floods.
KENDALL CAFE’S SAD END
The jolly little Miss Nellie’s cafe in Kendall survived the Black Summer bushfires and the pandemic and helped bring the community together in the wake of William Tyrrell’s heartbreaking disappearance — but nothing could save it from the 2021 floods.
The quaint, family-owned cafe was completely consumed by flood waters when the Camden Haven River burst its banks and rose three metres above the main street on Friday afternoon.
Even hours of sandbagging couldn’t save the building from the power of the torrents, which ripped away the cafe’s jovial lollipop panels and gingerbread man and left the owners with almost nothing.
Cafe owner Jenelle Nosworthy described her devastation in seeing the 100-year-old building, which she had built into a local icon, inundated by floodwaters so high they touched the roof.
“One of our friends went into the shop because we couldn’t get in and they rang in tears and said the veranda is gone, the garage is gone and the wall had ripped off,” she said.
“Three months ago we made it into a gingerbread house and it was at its prime, and now it’s just a pile of rubble.”
The damage bill is expected to be in the tens of thousands and while the cafe is comprehensively insured, Ms Nosworthy says she is not sure the damage will be covered.
“Assuming it’s structurally sound, we will have to rebuild as the floodwaters have taken the kitchen and veranda.”
The cafe has been an icon of the Hastings since 2012 and has brought the community together when toddler William Tyrrell disappeared and during the bushfires and pandemic.
“During the bushfires people came to the cafe to feel safe and it was also a pick-up point for the Rural Fire Service. During the pandemic, people would come and grab a coffee to have a chat through the window.
“When William Tyrrell disappeared, it was also a place where people could chat and take their mind off things.”
A GoFundMe page has been established to help the cafe with the arduous clean-up effort and to fund the damage bill, but there are some things money won’t be able to buy.
“It’s the little things like my favourite spatula and grandma’s handwritten cookbook,” she said.
“And what’s most upsetting is the people’s lives we have touched who have reached out, like our customer Allan who came with his wife every Sunday until she passed away. Since then, he would sit on that same table every day.
“Now, it’s all been destroyed.”
EVACUATION CENTRES REACHING CAPACITY
Evacuation centres are reaching capacity in Port Macquarie-Hastings as the Mid-North Coast flood crises continues to worsen.
As of 9.30am on Sunday, Port Macquarie-Hastings SES have had 431 requests for assistance since the massive weather event unfolded on Friday.
Many of those who have been rescued have been displaced from their homes completely and evacuated to centres at Laurieton and Port Macquarie with just the shirts on their back.
Port Macquarie-Hastings Mayor Peta Pinson said the situation on the ground is “heartbreaking”.
“I have been to the Laurieton evacuation centre and I have spoken to people there,” she said.
Cr Pinson said she had heard “heartbreaking stories, people who have been rescued, people who have left it a little bit late to leave … we are talking many of our senior population and a whole caravan park of residential inhabitants totally displaced and it’s going to be many months before they will be able to return,” Mayor Pinson said.
“We are really going to be experiencing some major housing issues.
“A lot of these people just left their homes with the clothes on their backs. I’d like to put a shout out that if people could provide brand new underwear for people to have in these areas because they have lost everything … their homes have gone underwater and they have no clothing.
“Council is opening up areas where showering can occur, and other assets where council is concerned is that the road network is deteriorating rapidly.
“People are just waiting for the waters to recede so that they can get back to their homes. They are aware that they’re going to be experiencing some real damage when the get back there.
“We’re going to see a lot of debris and rubbish out on the footpaths and streets and there’s the health concerns with perished food and the like needing to go to landfill when this is all done.
She said many will not be able to return to homes, and some of those still standing, will be irreparable.
“Let’s not also forget our homeless community as well, we are seeing some homeless people take advantage of our evacuation on centres as well.
“We’ve got police in the evacuation centres, SES, fire and rescue, doctors and nursing staff – everyone’s to our utmost to ensure that we are helping our most disadvantaged and the most vulnerable members of our community.”
“People are shell shocked.”
ONCE IN A CENTURY RAINFALL SWAMPS NSW
The deluge has dumped record-breaking rainfall in parts of NSW, with many towns expected to smash daily and monthly rainfall records.
In Kendall on the state’s Mid North Coast 405mm fell in three days – the heaviest rainfall in more than 107 years.
Floodwaters tore through the main street of the quiet town, submerging cafes and shops and closing roads, forcing dozens of children to spend the night at their primary school.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Helen Kirkup said many parts of the state, particularly along the Mid North Coast, have seen their heaviest rainfall in living memory.
“We are looking at much of the areas on the Mid North Coast having higher than average March rainfall. We have also seen some daily rainfall records broken,” she said.
As the wet weather continues, the SES is urging people to watch closely for evacuation orders and weather alerts and to never drive through floodwaters.
“It doesn’t take a lot of water to flood a car. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced driver. If it’s flooded forget it,” an SES spokesperson said.
If you need emergency assistance, contact the SES on 132 500 or call triple-0 for life-threatening emergencies.
Originally published as NSW Weather: Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary told to evacuate as Nepean River rises
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