Aerial photos of northern NSW’s flooding devastation laid bare

Views from above towns across northern NSW have revealed a sea of brown ruin as communities fight back from floods. Check out our interactive before and after photo sliders.

Aerial views of Northern Rivers hubs smashed by swollen Wilsons and Clarence rivers have revealed the scale of flood devastation and the effort that will be required to recover.

Lismore, Southgate and Ulmarra are among the communities deep in clean-up mode as residents from within and outside the impact zone band together to get their lives back on track.

Nearmap captured the following before and after images via the Nearmap proprietary aerial camera system attached to planes.

They show the inundation of the Ballina Street Bridge which connects Lismore with South Lismore.

It was a truly unexpected scene for long time residents who had not before witnessed water over the top of the landmark.

The town pool in Molesworth Street was also filled with dirty water, changing its bright blue hue to a muddy brown.

Meanwhile at Ulmarra, northeast of Grafton in the Clarence Valley, homes in and around the small community were surrounded by flooding as the Clarence River broke its banks.

There were similar scenes at Ulmarra, on the southern side of the river, where some homes were inundated and those who had built on higher ground were surrounded.

Nearmap aims to capture aerial imagery following every major natural disaster in Australia that has a significant impact on property, infrastructure, and communities.

Nearmap ImpactResponse combines the firm’s leading aerial imagery, location intelligence and geospatial tools so businesses in sectors including government, insurance, and property have access to current information on the ground following natural disasters, at a time when ground access is limited, and inspection resources are stretched.

An aerial view show flood impacts at Lismore.

An aerial view show flood impacts near the Lismore Information Centre at the intersection of Ballina Road and Molesworth Street.

An aerial view shows an inundation at the Lismore Memorial Baths in Molesworth Street.

An aerial view show flood impacts at Lismore.

An aerial view show flood impacts at Lismore.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Richmond River High in North Lismore.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at the Ballina Street Bridge in South Lismore.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Girards Hill in Lismore.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Girards Hill in Lismore.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Southgate, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Southgate, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Southgate, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Southgate, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Southgate, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Southgate, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Ulmarra, next to the Clarence River.

An aerial view shows flood impacts at Ulmarra, next to the Clarence River.

Originally published as Aerial photos of northern NSW’s flooding devastation laid bare