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NSW, Queensland weather: Flash flood warnings after storms continue to lash east coast

A gaping sinkhole has emerged in a NSW town after it was battered by “600mm of rain in five days” during the recent wild weather.

Rebekah Scanlan and Alexis Carey
5 min read
December 16, 2020 - 10:30AM
Weather: Violent storms lash east coast

The wild storms that have lashed Australia’s east coast this week has caused a huge sinkhole to open in the NSW city of Coffs Harbour.

The news was shared by ABC journalist Jake Lapham, who shared a dramatic photo of the hole on Twitter this morning.

Mr Lapham revealed the sinkhole had emerged after the region copped 600mm of rain in just five days.

The Bureau of Meteorolgy’s Jonathan How told news.com.au it “wasn’t surprising” given the heavy rainfall.

“It really depends on local ground conditions … but hundreds and hundreds of millimetres of rain over quite along time does open the possibility of erosion on the coast and also on the ground as well when the land is so saturated,” the meteorologist said.

Mr How said since Friday, upper Springbrook in Queensland had received a whopping 955mm followed by Logans Crossing in NSW with 656mm and Mullumbimby near Byron Bay with 536mm.

It comes as NSW’s north coast is facing an anxious wait as locals brace for heavy rainfall and abnormally high tides today.

While a severe weather warning has now been cancelled for the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast districts, intense rainfall – and the risk of flash flooding – is still on the cards.

And according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), rain and thunderstorms will remain in place for at least the next few days.

RELATED: Evacuation warning as heavy rainfall smashes coast

BOM flood manager Justin Robertson said that gale force winds, torrential rain and rough seas that have lashed the coastline causing erosion are now moving south.

“One thing I’d really like to emphasise, even though the rainfall has started to ease, it doesn’t mean the flood situation is easing,” Mr Robertson said.

“We still have flood water coming down through those river systems.”

The warnings follow a fourth day of wild weather that saw the evacuation issued for the Tweed River at Condong, Tumbulgum and surrounding areas in northern NSW.

The BOM said multiple rivers continue to rise on NSW’s mid north coast and Northern Rivers catchments, affecting Tweed River, Wilsons River, Richmond River, Orara River, Bellinger River, Kalang River and Nambucca River.

A series of flood warnings were issued by the BOM early on Wednesday morning, with residents near the Camden Haven River at Laurieton, the Macleay River at Kempsey, the Hastings River at Wauchope and Settlement Point, the Wilsons River at Lismore, Nambucca River, Clarence River, Orara River and Richmond River on notice.

Speaking with ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday morning, NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan said the region had been hit by a “significant amount of rain overnight”, although some of the river systems are falling.

Residents of Tumbulgum paddle their kayaks down a street in Northern NSW. Picture: AAP Image/Jason O'Brien
Residents of Tumbulgum paddle their kayaks down a street in Northern NSW. Picture: AAP Image/Jason O'Brien

However, she said the SES was still receiving requests for assistance from the public and communities, including five overnight and more than 1700 in the past five days.

She said the SES was still assessing the extent of the damage caused.

“We are hoping to have our … assessments done over the next week prior to Christmas,” she said.

“And depending on whether or not we’ll get more rainfall will obviously depend on whether there is a larger response requirement, but hopefully we are looking at some level of people going to be able to go back to normal within the next seven days.”

Wilsons River in Lismore was expected to reach about 8.2m around 2am Wednesday that is expected to impact a number of low lying surrounding areas.

The Tweed River was expected to peak around midday yesterday but instead peaked at 2.2 metres around 10:00am with moderate flooding.

Residents across Byron Bay and Lismore continued to flee to higher ground overnight with the help of NSW SES after an official Evacuation Order was issued for Tweed River yesterday which burst and flooded nearby areas.

Senior climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology told the ABC up to 500mm of rain had fallen already and that half a metre of rain had fallen in the space of four days.

“So very heavy and significant rainfall,” she said.

Locals in affected communities used a break in heavy rainfall overnight to assess the impact and damage of the wild weather.

Chris Cherry, mayor of Tweed Shire Council, told the ABC authorities were still trying to assess the flooding damage.

“We’ve had some reports, obviously we don’t have a lot of that intel yet,” she said.

“There’s quite a bit of it on Facebook but in terms of direct hearing from people I’ve been talking to some people in Tumbulgum who have had inundation but at this stage it’s not clear how many people have been affected.”

The BOM also warned residents in affected areas of Queensland would continue to experience “isolated showers and storms” over the coming days that could lead to “further flash flooding”.

Bribie Island, a 34km-long sand island north of Brisbane, was divided in two for the first time in history.

Dramatic footage shows water gushing over the dunes at Bribie, threatening dozens of beachfront mansions.

The area has had a long-term erosion problem that has been exacerbated by the recent wild weather.

Bribie hugs the coastline and tapers to a long spit at its most northern point near Caloundra, and is separated from the mainland by Pumicestone Passage.

There has been a tidal breakthrough at Bribie Island for the first time in history. Picture: Channel 7
There has been a tidal breakthrough at Bribie Island for the first time in history. Picture: Channel 7

“At this stage it’s holding together but who knows,” Flotilla Commander Caloundra Coast Guard Roger Pearce told Sunrise on Tuesday.

He warned locals to “keep away” and said hopefully the sand island – which is home to a 55.8 sqkm national park – will survive, citing there were “still plenty of tree roots holding it together”.

But residents in the luxury homes on Golden Beach – of which Bribie acts as a buffer for the mainland from the strong ocean tides – face a nervous night ahead after the water broke through.

The occupants of the approximately 1000 properties who fled following an order to “evacuate now” are also thought to be nervously waiting for news on how the flooding will affect their homes.

Flooding around Murwillumbah saw many evacuate their homes as wild weather batters southeast Queensland and northeast NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Steve Holland
Flooding around Murwillumbah saw many evacuate their homes as wild weather batters southeast Queensland and northeast NSW. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Steve Holland

Social media users have shared images of their local area overrun with water, some expressing fear for the hours ahead.

“I spent large parts of my childhood at Currumbin, Bribie Island and Fraser Island. After the terrible fires last Christmas season, this is almost too much to bear,” one wrote.

“Watching #abcnews. Seeing the floods. Condong evacuated. I spent many of my teenage years living in Condong, on the beautiful Tweed River near the pollution-belching CSR sugar mill, & Murwillumbah. Never once flooded in Condong. Now evacuated,” another said.

While someone simply asked when many locals are undoubtedly feeling, writing: “When will it end?”

Read related topics:BrisbaneWeather

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/nsw-queensland-weather-flash-flood-warnings-after-storms-continue-to-lash-east-coast/news-story/6eae7e6a3f0ea13ee31dfad376eecd6d