Spider bite victim rescued from flood waters, flown to Coffs hospital

A man was bitten by what authorities believe was a funnel-web spider in what was one of several flood-related rescues across the region. See the latest here:

A man trapped by flood water near Bellingen was bitten by a spider, believed to be a funnel-web, on Friday afternoon.

Paramedics and SES flood rescue teams were unable to reach the 42-year-old at his home in Kalang.

Coffs Harbour SES deputy commander of operations Ian Horncastle said the conditions were particularly challenging and volunteers were not sure if the chopper would be able to land.

“We were advised that the chopper was en route but with the conditions the way they were - and you can never be one hundred per cent sure of what can happen in the Bellingen area, as it can change so quickly - we weren’t sure if the chopper would be able to land,” Mr Horncastle said.

The patient was located approximately 30km along Kalang Road.

“There were about five or six bridges and creek crossings to get there. We got to about the second bridge and couldn’t get any further,” Mr Horncastle said.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was able to land within the township of Kalang where the critical care medical team assessed and treated the man.

The Westpac chopper at Coffs Harbour hospital.

He was suffering serious side effects from the bite according to a Westpac Rescue Helicopter spokesperson.

The man was treated at the scene before being flown to the Coffs Harbour hospital in a stable condition.

Rescued from flood waters near Glenreagh

At around 4am on Friday the SES was called to a man stranded in his car in floodwaters.

Mr Horncastle said the local man had been reluctant to call the SES although he was in serious trouble.

“His car was in three metres of water at least.

“As a local, he would have known those roads slope steeply down to the crossings so the bridge was under a lot of water.”

It was another challenging rescue for volunteers.

“There’s so much debris in the creeks and rivers at the moment and it was at 4am in the morning with no vision.”

Car rolls into embankment

Also on Friday morning SES volunteers were called to a woman reported to be trapped in her car after rolling down an embankment.

It took place around 5.30am on a bend near the village of Coramba.

“She was a very lucky girl. The car rolled about three metres down the embankment and was at a causeway with water rushing through the vehicle.”

By the time the SES road crash rescue team arrived she was able to climb out of her vehicle and up the embankment.

“She was very fortunate as we would have struggled to get to the vehicle.”

A slow moving low pressure system is predicted to move south and dump as much as 120mls of rain across the Coffs region on Sunday.