Mid-North Coast floods: Kempsey Businesses, homes under threat as rising river threatens town
Residents of Kempsey had a nervous night as rain continued to pour down across the Mid-North coast, with the SES fielding more than 1200 calls for help.
Mid-North Coast
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An evacuation centre has been established at Crescent Head Public School.
It is the third evacuation centre established in the Macleay Valley, with thousands of residents now displaced from their properties.
Access has been cut to the town along Crescent Head Rd, as well as Smithtown, Jerseyville, Gladstone and South West Rocks.
Further south flood waters have receded in the heavily-hit suburb of Telegraph Point.
Residents that can access their houses have spent most of the day surveying the cost of damage, which many are predicting to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Damaged belongings have been discarded in to the street, and a wreckage of cars are still sat at the pub across the road unable to be moved.
The NSW State Emergency Service has heeded the call to more than 1200 people affected by the Mid-North Coast’s unfolding flood crisis.
Of the updated figures, more than 400 of those are rescues from flooded waters, while the remainder are largely calls for assistance due to damaged property or homes.
The numbers are for the Taree, Port Macquarie and Kempsey — the latter of which had been bracing for major inundation of the town centre, but as the day wears on, the tide has slowly started to drop.
The latest reading at the town’s flood marker was at six metres, 0.9 metres below the levee mark.
At this point officials say the water levels are decreasing, but evacuation orders remain in place for the CBD.
IN PICTURES: THE MID-NORTH COAST FLOOD CRISIS
3.30PM: COUPLE WHO LOST HOME ON WEDDING DAY GET NEW OFFER
A young Mondrook couple have been gifted a new home after their last one went hurtling down the river when it was washed away in floodwaters.
Sarah Soars, 24, and the love of her life, partner Joshua Edge, 26, were dealt the cruellest of blows when floodwaters savaged their Mondrook rental on their wedding day, and washed it away downstream.
But just three days later the two lovebirds, who were forced to call their big day off, have been given a new place to live after a willing landlord, and some help by LJ Hooker Taree, added a bit of brightness to a very dark few days.
2pm: Elderly woman rescued after fall in flooded home
A woman in her 80s suffering suspected spinal injuries and two broken hips has been airlifted to safety then transported by boat to a waiting ambulance in Kempsey on the Mid-North Coast.
The woman, located in the inundated community of Gladstone near Kempsey, was airlifted to safety and collected by waiting emergency services who transported her by boat to an ambulance at Kempsey.
She was transported to Port Macquarie Base hospital.
NSW Fire and Rescue Strike Team Leader Glen Whitehead said they were alerted by floodwater rescue crews at about 10.30am Tuesday who located her at the Gladstone property.
“The lady had a fall at home, in a two storey house, and what’s happened is she has had a significant fall and has probably broken up to one or both her hips,” he said.
“We then got a crew with a raft and they airlifted her by helicopter to Gladstone where the floodwater rescue teams put the lady in a floodwater rescue boat.
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Ambulance crews were waiting at Forth St Kempsey, next to the Kempsey Macleay RSL Club, to collect her.
“It is a huge effort by the crews,” Mr Whitehead said.
“These guys have worked very well over the last few days since this weather event has hit the Mid-North Coast.
“These guys have done over 300 rescues up and down the Mid-North Coast, from Port Macquarie Coffs Harbour, Taree.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these Fire and Rescue crews.”
MIDDAY: PANIC BUYING BEGINS
A queue of shoppers stretched along Elbow St in West Kempsey waited to enter Kempsey IGA, as other major outlets including Coles at Kempsey Central, were forced to close as the SES ordered the CBD to evacuate.
The Macleay River peaked at 6.4 metres this morning, about .5 metres below the levee height. High tide is expected again at about 7pm, with water still flowing into the system from rivers upstream.
Access down to the main street, Belgrave St, is now cut to through traffic, apart from residents and emergency workers as the Council and authorities prepare for possible CBD inundation.
Ian Rainbow and hundreds of others made a last-ditch dash to the Kempsey IGA to stock-up in supplies in case access to town is cut.
“We live out of town, and we’re on a hill so we’re not too bad,” he said
“My partner’s been pulling some pretty big shifts at the hospital so they’re pulling big shifts and they’ve got no food at the hospital so I’m just taking them down some food.
“Her property is down on the other side of Gladstone. She can’t get home so she’s staying here with me... her young fella’s looking after the place.
“There’s a few of us back there, me my partner and another lady that lives on the property.
He said the flood was among the worst he has seen in typical country town style.
‘It’s a good’n,” he said. “We worked it out this morning that we’ve had 28 inches of rain now. It’s right up there with 201 [floods]. There’s still water to come down the range from Armidale and it’s still rising … then we’ve got to think of the tides as well.
“Jo’s [his partner] mum thinks that’ll be OK out at Gladstone, I don’t know if she’s just trying to convince herself or what. She’s pretty upset.
Andrew Churchin, of South West Rocks, was staying with his partner in Kempsey.
“I can’t get home, but we’re fortunate we’ve just come back from a wedding in the Hunter Valley and got back through OK,” he said.
“I work up at the jail and I can still get to work, but we don’t know whether we’ll be able to get back to town later.
“I’ve got somewhere to stay at least so I’m a lot better than some other people around here.”
On Monday, the forced evacuation of low lying parts of Port Macquarie forced the closure of the CBD Coles, with buyers taking the long route to the Lighthouse Coles outlet where shelves now lay bare.”
A Coles spokesman said the Port Macquarie supermarket had reopened on Tuesday, but the Kempsey store will remain shut until further notice
9.30am: Evacuations ordered, Macleay River levee under threat
The Kempsey CBD and low-lying community of Smithtown are on high alert as the Macleay River continues to rise amid the unfolding flood crises on the Mid-North Coast.
Residents have been evacuated from the town centre of Kempsey as latest predictions forecast that the Macleay River levee bank may peak at 6.6 metres, which would trigger sever flooding into streets through the Kempsey CBD.
Heavy rainfall has been reported upriver of Kempsey over the course of Sunday afternoon resulting in a rapid rise at the Toorooka Gauge from 6pm Sunday. River levels downstream of Toorooka are now also rising.
Flash flooding around the shire has caused several road closures that the council may not be in a position to attend or access.
Significant road closures are in place, including the northern bypass access into town, due to severe flooding at Frederickton.
Evacuation Centres remain open at the Kempsey Showground and at the South West Rocks Country Club.
Public schools and most independent schools will be closed on Monday.
Surreal scenes as cattle cry for help
As towns like Kempsey, Taree and Port Macquarie bear the brunt of flood waters in the past few days — thoughts have turned to livestock lost.
Some incredible images have emerged of people making brave efforts in kayaks to save distressed cattle.
Oscar Watson-Sutherland from Oxley Island and friend Miles Thornton took to kayaks in the Manning region to save some of the cattle they could hear crying for help.
“It was so surreal and you could hear them all, kind of crying out, but the most bizarre thing were all the spiders – they were everywhere, it was hectic.”
They were able to use a horse halter to help guide the cattle to safer ground.
“That helped to keep their heads up and we tied the kayaks together and worked that way.
“We did as much as we could until another huge storm came through. We could hear it coming and the sky was just black.”
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