‘More showers’: Sydney hit with rain following ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred
Sydneysiders are now copping some of the effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred while communities in the state’s north remain “isolated”.
Sydneysiders can expect to be hit with more rain in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, with showers likely to continue throughout Tuesday.
Alfred was downgraded to a tropical low as it approached the mainland on Saturday but has still caused significant damage, with fierce winds ripping up homes and trees and heavy rainfall causing dangerous flash flooding across South East Queensland and northern NSW.
However, Sydney was hit with effects from the system on Tuesday morning, with residents waking up to a wet morning.
Sky News Australia meteorologist Rob Sharpe said more showers were likely throughout Tuesday.
“It’s been showery since about late last night and it’s kind of picked up early this morning, that’s where we saw some of the significant wet weather,” Mr Sharpe told NewsWire.
“We’ll likely still see more showers coming and going (today).
“We’ll continue to see showers scattered across Sydney through today with the potential for more 10-20mm falls in parts of Sydney.”
He said there was a slight chance of a shower or storm on Wednesday.
“But I expect the bulk of the wet weather will be today in Sydney,” he said.
Sydney recorded 14mm of rain by 8.30am on Tuesday, as well as 20mm at Sydney Airport and 10mm at Olympic Park.
Northern NSW communities ‘isolated’
The wet weather comes after areas in northern NSW recorded more than 250mm of rainfall in 24 hours.
Bilambil Heights recorded 274mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, while Chinderah was hit with 167mm in the same period just days after ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred made landfall.
NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz said several communities remained “isolated” on Tuesday morning.
“And those communities, we’re assisting with evacuations but also for medicines and food supplies,” Ms Platz told the ABC.
The SES have responded to 20 flood rescues and more than 360 incidents since 8am Monday.
Ms Platz said the SES would prioritise the call outs but that there was a significant amount of water still lying around the state, and urged people to stay home.
“If you are out and about, then please be careful, because in the last 24 hours, we have actually seen 22 flood rescue activations where we’ve had to rescue people from the tops of their cars,” Ms Platz said.
“So, still a very dynamic and dangerous situation in many communities across NSW.”
She said those in the North West Slopes region were experiencing isolated thunderstorms, which was causing “intense rainfall” and winds of up to 90km/h despite weather conditions easing.
Rivers appeared stable, Ms Platz said, while the SES had lifted all evacuation orders.
However 126 watch and act or advice level warnings remained in place from Taree to the Queensland border as of Tuesday morning.
“We’re allowing people in communities to be able to go home with caution,” she said.
“Of course, as they go home, they’re seeing the damage to their properties and we’re seeing an escalation in calls to the SES for assistance for tarping roofs or fixing damage to roofs and windows from trees that have fallen down.
“I’d encourage people today to stay connected, as they have been.”
She urged residents to return home with caution as the state had suffered “significant damage”.
“We need people to check their homes for damage, but also check for electricity and gas. Make sure there’s no slips or hazards around,” she said.
“And, importantly, what we’ve seen in this particular event is that people have been extremely well-prepared so there’s lots of sandbags out there.
“If those sandbags have been contaminated by water, we need people to start throwing those sandbags away and not reusing them.”
NSW SES has advised people to avoid the Clybucca, Kinchela, Smithtown, Gladstone and Upper and Lower Belmore areas due to widespread flooding.
Flood warnings have also been issued across the North West and Central West catchments as well as the Tweed, Wilsons, Clarence, Bellinger and Kalang, Macleay, Orara, Brunswick, Nambucca and Richmond rivers. These also extend to Marshalls Creek.
More than 7500 homes and businesses remain without power across northern NSW as of 6am on Tuesday, according to Essential Energy, with the majority of outages in the Northern Rivers area.
“Essential Energy crews will continue to work through the clean-up and repairs throughout today,” the website stated.
Community hubs were expected to be set up on Tuesday to give customers access to the internet and charge mobile devices.
Emergency financial assistance
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Tuesday announced emergency financial assistance for NSW residents affected by Alfred.
Individuals can receive up to $180 while families can receive up to $900 to cover the essentials, including food, clothes, medicine, and emergency accommodation over the last week.
“The personal hardship assistance grants is for those individuals, and it’s aimed to help them get back on their feet and recover,” Mr Minns said at a press conference on Tuesday.
“It will apply to communities that were subject to an evacuation order or had their electricity cut off for a period of 48 hours. You can access those funds from the Service NSW website or through your app. We encourage you to do that now.”
‘Unacceptable’: Minns slams squatters
Mr Minns said homes would be demolished after emergency services had to go check on squatters in northern NSW amid Alfred.
“Unbeknown to me, in all candour, I wasn’t aware that we were currently in court trying to execute eviction notices on some members of those communities when (ex) Tropical Cyclone Alfred emerged in the last week,” Mr Minns said.
“This is a completely unacceptable set of circumstances. It’s not tolerable to have so many people located in flood-prone land, still in danger, and have SES personnel, volunteers, have to go and check on those households, check on those communities, to keep them safe.”
He said having squatters move into the properties was “completely unacceptable”, and the homes would be demolished in the coming weeks.
“We’re going to make sure that these communities are safe, and we can’t have an intolerable situation where large numbers of people are in harm’s way after NSW taxpayers have spent millions of dollars trying to make the community safer,” he said.
“I can’t have a situation where, when a tropical cyclone or the next flood hits Lismore, we are checking on houses that should be vacant as a result of millions of dollars that we’ve already spent.”
He said the government wasn’t “trying to exacerbate the housing issues” in the area, but claimed housing problems would not be solved by “moving people into flood-prone land”.
“We have to draw a line in the sand here, and that means demolishing those houses and ensuring that we can get on with life in the Northern Rivers,” he said.
Northern NSW ‘not out of the woods’
NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Sean Kearns on Monday warned residents of northern NSW were “not out of the woods just yet” despite some warnings being downgraded.
“We’re very glad to see some warnings reduced over the weekend, allowing some residents to return with caution in parts of Lismore, Kyogle, Wiangaree, Arrawarra Beach, Darlington Beach and other locations as conditions have eased,” Mr Kearns said.
“However, we’re not out the woods just yet, major flooding and isolations are still occurring across many communities, and the predicted risk of heavy rain to continue throughout Monday and possibly into Tuesday will only exacerbate this risk.
“We may see renewed river rises, but we’re hoping we have seen the worst of the rain from this event.
“As conditions improve, NSW SES will be working with communities throughout the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast to ensure residents are able to return safely where possible.
“Our volunteers will be out in force on Monday cleaning up residual storm and tree jobs and continuing damage assessments.”
Man dead in floodwaters
Just days earlier the body of a man who was swept away by floodwaters near Lismore was found, marking the first loss of life amid ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Emergency services on Friday responded to reports of a 4WD being washed off a bridge into fast-running waters at Wild Cattle Creek Bridge near Old Coramba Rd northeast of Dorrigo.
The driver was initially able to escaped the vehicle and cling onto a tree before he was swept away shortly after.
A search was launched to find the 61-year-old man; however, police confirmed the body of a man was found nearby about 4.30pm on Saturday.
“While the body is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing man,” a NSW Police spokesperson said.
The death and flooding in the area comes just three years after Lismore was devastated by floods.
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