Ballina flood: Some residents evacuate as others stay put

Ballina residents have been ordered to evacuate as floodwaters rose. Those south of the Richmond River have been told it’s too late to leave and to seek high ground. See the videos and photos.

The NSW State Emergency Service has urged people in the Ballina area to evacuate early ahead of more predicted flooding.

Parts of Ballina are forecast to experience flooding worse than the 2017, 1974 and 1954 weather according to the Bureau of Meterology.

David Rankin from the NSW SES has told the ABC the weather bureau has warned of “a flood of record like we have seen in Lismore yesterday”.

“Conservative estimates have it at 2.5m in Ballina which is a significant amount of water in that community,” he said.

“Council have also reported a 2.5m figure is something we should suggest in and across Ballina now.

“We want people to take this flooding...extraordinarily seriously.”

While the SES evacuation order has focused on low-lying areas of the Ballina CBD, Ballina Shire Council has warned the entire Ballina Island could experience “some inundation”.

“We are expecting a peak around 9pm tonight which will be 2.5 AHD which is approximately half a metre higher than the water level this morning,” the council said.

“This will mean that all of Ballina Island will now experience some inundation and it is expected that this level will stay up for a longer period of time as it is not as dependent on the tides.”

Mr Rankin said people in areas likely to be impacted should prepare immediately.

“If you have the opportunity to move stock to higher ground, do that immediately,” he said.

“I can’t stress this enough: we have seen so many last minute emergency evacuations that have taken up to 24 hours to facilitate just upriver and that water that has affected those communities is making its way down the river to Ballina right now.

“From my understanding, this is the first time evacuation orders like this for Ballina have been issued.

“If you’re in Ballina, the best decision you can make in a very long time - if you believe you can be affected by floodwater - is to evacuate.”

On Tuesday morning Ballina was bracing after a flood evacuation order was issued in the early hours.

People in low-lying areas including West and North Ballina and communities to the south, toward Wardell, were urged to evacuate by 7am, before high tide.

A further evacuation order was later issued specifically for low-lying areas of South Ballina.

NSW SES is directing people within South Ballina to move to higher ground away from floodwaters; it is too late to leave the area.

Rising floodwater is beginning to make it unsafe to evacuate the area. Burns Point Ferry is closed and Wardell Bridge is inundated. You should immediately move to the highest safe place now, such as higher ground or inside a sturdy multi-storey building to upper levels as high above water levels as possible. Do not leave your location unless it is safe to do so.

In Cherry St, the staff at WCA Chartered Accountants watched in shock as tides rose across the street.

Alstonville owner Tony Bazzana said the team had already been devastated by the flooding.

“We’ve pretty much lost our whole office in Lismore,” he said.

“We thought we were prepared enough. Everyone thought they were prepared enough.

“So we're now down here trying to save what’s left of our office.”

Mr Bazzana said he, Ballina local Matt Gahan and Lennox local Marty McNamara were facing an uncertain future.

“We understand the high tides but the unknown is just all that extra water coming that no one has ever seen,” he said.

Pictures: Ballina inundated with floodwater after evacuation order issued

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“No one really knows what the effect is going to be down here and (Tuesday) is probably OK but for most businesses I think the unknown for us is what the next few days are going to look like.

“That’s the risk.”

He said it was another hit for North Coast business, but first and foremost was those who had lost their properties.

“There’s a lot of people worse off than us,” he said.

“People are losing their homes and being displaced, we’ve got to put things in perspective.

“But as a business owner we’ve got a lot of families that we’ve got to get back on our feet to keep those families going too.”

There has been a mixed reaction to the evacuation order closer to the CBD.

Some residents near Ballina Fair have stayed put while others have left, for higher ground or one of the two evacuation centres set up at Cherry Street Sports Club and the council-owned Richmond Room behind Ballina Library.

Phil and Kathy Tonge are long term residents of Fox Street, Ballina. Water has inundated surrounding streets, including stretches of Fox Street, as residents of some low-lying areas in the Ballina area evacuate on Tuesday morning. Picture: Liana Boss

Phil Tonge has lived in the Fox Street area for more than 20 years.

He said he hadn’t seen flooding so high in his street before.

“We were quite concerned, we got a phone message at 2.20am to get ready to evacuate,” Mr Tonge said.

“So we were concerned it was going to be much worse.”

Mr Tongue said while he received the early-morning flood evacuation warning, he never got the more pressing evacuation order that went to other residents just before 6am.

As high tide approached on Tuesday morning, Mr Tonge and his wife Kathy were feeling confident about staying home.

“We got a bit of water running through the garage, but it’s not a real worry,” he said.

Ballina residents Nigel Keep and Garry Scott in Fox Street, which has been inundated with water as residents of some low-lying areas in the Ballina area evacuate on Tuesday morning. Picture: Liana Boss

Nearby resident Garry Scott moved to Fox Street about 22 years ago.

At the time he was in a home closer to the western end of the street, which was under water on Tuesday morning.

“We had rain for six months,” he said.

He said the flooding was more severe back then.

As some brief sunshine emerged on Tuesday morning, Mr Scott said he was planning to stay home.

“I hope everybody in Lismore’s safe, and everyone else around Ballina, Wardell,” he said.

“We’re pretty good. Our backyard’s alright. I’m sorry for all the other people.”