Pregnant woman trapped in floods rescued by SES volunteer

An SES volunteer has detailed his heroic effort to rescue a woman whose water broke while floodwaters encircled the town of Forbes.

A NSW SES volunteer has described the incredible moment he rescued a woman in labour in the middle of flood-ravaged Forbes.

More than a thousand residents have been evacuated from Forbes as major flood peaks are expected in multiple towns over the weekend.

Forbes SES rescuer Ryan Jones was called to Jacaranda St where a pregnant woman’s water had broken.

Her midwife assessed that she would need to be admitted to hospital urgently.

“She was isolated by floodwater in North Forbes, we had to transport her across the flooded river and waterways to the hospital,” Mr Jones said.

Forbes Public School has been swallowed by floodwaters. Picture: Twitter

Forbes Primary School is inundated with rising flood waters. Picture: Twitter

“The water was too deep and dangerous for private vehicles so the only way for us to access this patient was via use of our high clearance vehicles.”

NSW SES Incident Controller Barry Griffiths told reporters on Saturday that communities need to “remain vigilant”.

“Stay prepared and continue to stay prepared,” Mr Griffiths said.

An SES volunteer has rescued a woman in labour from floodwaters. Picture: NSW SES

Minister for Emergency Services Steph Cooke reminded locals that as floodwaters move downstream, regional communities are likely to be impacted for “coming weeks, if not months”.

“We have nine major flood warnings across our river systems west of the divide today,” Ms Cooke said.

“Whilst we are experiencing some reprieve in the weather, the risk has not abated in relation to the amount of water in our river systems.”

She also issued a fresh warning for locals in flood-ravaged communities not to drive through floodwaters.

NSW SES Incident Controller has urged communities to stay vigilant despite reprieve from rain. Picture NSW SES.JPG

“You simply don’t know what is in floodwaters, we have situations where we could have raw sewage, debris, chemicals,” Ms Cooke said.

The Lachlan River is currently sitting just below the record peak at about 10.66 metres and is likely to overflow on Saturday impacting around 500 homes.

If it reaches 10.8 metres as predicted, it will break the 1952 flood record making it the largest flood event in 70 years.

Forbes Council has advised North-South Forbes vehicle ferry service will be stopped as water is too deep to pass through safely.

Thousands evacuate the town of Forbes bracing for the worst flooding in 70 years. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

Locals in Forbes spent most of Friday desperately sandbagging around properties in the hopes of protecting their homes from rising floodwaters.

The region is hit by a flood every seven years on average but emergency services have warned locals that this flood could be very different.

Residents were told to evacuate before 4pm on Thursday and an evacuation centre has been set up at the Forbes Presbyterian Church.

There are currently 105 flood warnings across the state including 23 evacuation orders.

NSW SES has 105 current warnings across NSW
23 Emergency Warnings
60 Watch and Act
22 Advice

Visit https://t.co/BCnxAdOSBj to view all warnings.

☎️ Call NSW SES on 132 500. In life-threatening situations, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.

Post current at 4 Nov at 7.10pm pic.twitter.com/416T89coRV

— NSW SES (@NSWSES) November 4, 2022

Residents of the NSW/QLD border town of Collarenebri have been told to evacuate from Walli Village before 4pm on Saturday.

A major flood warning has been declared for the Murrumbidgee and Tumut Rivers by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

Floodwaters in Wagga Wagga peaked at 9.7m about midday on Friday – higher than the last major flood more than a decade ago in December 2010.

Locals are urged not to drive through floodwaters. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

The NSW SES has performed 114 flood rescues in the last week. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

In the last week, the NSW SES has responded to 2497 requests for assistance and performed 114 flood rescues.

Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said it is “unfortunate” farmers across regional NSW have lost entire crops in this flood event.

“I understand that businesses have had to close, I understand full well that farmers have lost crops and that’s going to take a heavy toll on their bottom lines,” he said.

“Many farmers were expecting a bumper harvest and that’s all just been destroyed by the floodwaters that swept through the Riverina and Central West.”

EVACUATION WARNINGS

• Walli Village – Collarenebri (evacuate before 4pm)
• Riverglade Caravan Park, Tumut (evacuate now)
• Big 4 Caravan Park, Wagga Wagga (evacuate before Thu 6pm)
• North Wagga – Inside the levee (evacuate before Thu 6pm)
• Gumly Gumly (evacuate before Thu 6pm)

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet stacks sandbags in Forbes. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

There are 23 evacuation warnings across the state of NSW. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

• Forbes North West (evacuate before Thu 4pm)
• Forbes West (evacuate before Thu 4pm)
• Forbes North East (evacuate before Thu 4pm)
• Forbes South (evacuate before Thu 4pm)
• Forbes East (evacuate before Thu 4pm)
• Forbes CBD Low-lying areas (evacuate before Thu 4pm)
• Parts of North Gunnedah (evacuate before Wed 9pm)

Walli Village residents on the NSW / QLD border have been told to evacuate before 4pm on Saturday. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

• Alice Edwards Village (evacuate before Wed 10am)
• Walks Park (evacuate now)
• North Wagga Outside the Levee (evacuate now)
• Moama Caravan and Tourist Park (evacuate – Mon 17 Oct)
• Cummeragunja (evacuate – Mon 17 Oct)

Forbes is hit by a flood every seven years on average. Picture: Brendon Thorne / Getty Images / POOL / NCA NewsWire

• Backwater Creek, Moama (evacuate – Tue 18 Oct)
• Picnic Point, Mathoura East (evacuate – Tue 18 Oct)
• Parts of East Moama (evacuate – Wed 19 Oct)
• Murray Valley Regional Park (evacuate – Tue 18 Oct)
• Cowra – low lying (evacuate now)