Mid-North Coast: Thousands displaced from homes as evacuation centres start to fill
A crisis the likes of which authorities have never seen before is unfolding on the Mid-North Coast, as evacuation centres fill-up and news sinks in that homes will be lost forever.
Mid-North Coast
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Evacuation centres are reaching capacity in Port Macquarie-Hastings as the Mid-North Coast flood crisis 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.
The centres are filling fast, and those that are there are now three days into their stay without any clean items of clothing.
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 inhabitant’s 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.”
Residents emergency evacuated out of homes via boat across the Mid-North Coast are telling the tale of a horror 24 hours which has left all of them uncertain about the state of their properties.
North Haven resident Dennis Scott said his mobile started ringing at 2am.
“They told us to keep an eye on everything … when we looked outside the water was inches from the top step,” he said from the SES evacuation centre at Port Panthers.
“I reckon it was about six inches away before it would have started going in to the house.
“The police came around with a raft and the woman and man from next door to us where put in the inflatable raft, then they came to us and it was knee deep then.
“They put us up in it then took us to the bowling club because we couldn’t get to Laurieton, so they took us up here [to Port Panthers].
“We don’t know anything, if our house is OK, if the river’s gone down or whether the house has been flooded – we wouldn’t have a bloody clue.”
Neighbour Dianne Matthews and her husband Brian, said they got evacuated at the same time.
“We all got in the rubber Dinghy together,” she said.
“We can’t find out anything that’s going on. When we left it’s just going up to the veranda and we’re worried it’s now in the house.”
Scott and Karen Sharwood, of Port Macquarie, received a call an early Saturday morning to pack up their mobile home at Melaleuca Lifestyle Village and head to Port Panthers.
“Probably about 2.30am in the morning the manager came around knocking on the door saying there’s water in the park. We looked outside and there was water on the road, and coming up the mobile homes.”
“Everyone was getting things ready, and what not, SES came around with their boats and loaded us up with the dogs.”
“We’ve probably only had an hour or two of sleep … there’s a couple of residents still there but only a matter of two or three inches from going into the verandas and homes.
“That’s when the tide was going out but it’s coming in now … we’re a bit concerned.”
Zoe Jahnsen, 17, was evacuated along with her father, Gary, and their neighbours from the Leisure Tourist Park.
“Last night we got flooded in up to waist deep … there was no call come through until 4am when we got a text that we had to evacuate,” she said.
“It’s probably going to take us a few days to get back home as it’s going to get worse.”
Ian Blakely didn’t even have time to take clothes from his home before leaving.
“I took the wrong bag and had to pick up some clothes from Lowes,” he said.
The tales of the flooded homes and drenched properties don’t compare to the scenes, however, of a house which was filmed floating down stream on Saturday morning.
The property was swallowed whole and spat out down the Manning River, near Taree.
The footage paints a picture of the unprecedented deluge and rapidly deteriorating river conditions which have ripped through towns and rural properties in the region.
The Manning River is expected to peak at 5.8 metres this afternoon, just short of the record flood of 6.0 metres in 1929, but above the levels recorded in the 1978 floods which reached 5.4 metres, and above the 2011 floods which reached 4.5 metres.
It, along with the Hastings, Macleay, Bellinger and Gloucester Rivers, are creating havoc for residents of low lying areas who have been forced to leave their homes and make their way to nearby evacuations centres.
By 10am on Saturday more than 400mm of rain had fallen across some parts of the region in less than 24 hours, setting ‘record-breaking’ river levels across the region.
Debris, including wharves, houses and pontoons, are strewn throughout the rising rivers and residents are bracing to lose beloved watercraft, private wharves – and possibly their homes, particularly along the Hastings River, Port Macquarie, as it begins to peak.
The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has set-up an evacuation centre at the nearby Port Panthers, where more than 300 people are currently located.
Co-ordinator Russell Stockholm said the club has closed for the day to allow people to take refuge.
“We are providing something for people to come and get away from their building, during the night somewhere for them to sleep, have coffee and tea and breakfast,” he said.
“We have a capacity of over 2000 people, so we can expect a lot more if need be. We’ll see what happens today and tomorrow but it is expected we’ll be here the next two days at least.”
The club is seeking donations of towels, blankets and pillows.
Port Macquarie publican Alistair Flower said his staff worked frantically into the night to move stock and pump out water, which was affecting the Hastings Hotel and The Settlers Inn.
“We’re OK,” he said.
“The Hastings has a flooded cellar, but it didn’t go up as high as we thought.
“The Settlers is fine, but it’s my house I’m worried about – we’re right on Hibbard Dr, right on the [Hastings] River.
“The guy next door, he has a big green houseboat which is floating somewhere down along the river that went at about 3am.
“All the pylons on the jetty are the same height, and we’ve all got about 30cm of more water to rise until it all goes and everyone loses everything, jet skis, jetty's – everything.”
Telegraph Point Sports and Recreation Club, however, was not so lucky – but it didn’t seem to deter the patrons and pub staff inside the premises.
Images circulated on social media pictured the premises operating as the water levels continued to rise.
At Kempsey, flooding has inundated the town’s CBD at Belgrave St. SES media officer Greg Gill said once it reaches town, it can’t escape.
“It can’t get away, with the [Macleay] river up so high, there’s nowhere for it to go,” he said.
“Belgrave St will likely be like this for a few days, that’s what happened in 2001. It got over the top of the levy and stayed in there.”
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said moderate flooding is occurring along the Macleay River at Kempsey and Smithtown.
Heavy rain has fallen recently in the mid and lower Macleay Valley, with further heavy rain expected during the weekend.
Further rainfall is forecast for the Mid-North Coast over the weekend. The Hastings River remains a significant flood watch as it reaches its peak.
In life threatening emergencies, call triple-0 (triple-0) immediately. If you require rescue, assistance to evacuate or other emergency help, ring NSW SES on 132 500.
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