Emergency ‘not over’ with new flood warnings issued across NSW

Flood warnings are now in place for dozens of areas across NSW’s north and mid-north coast as areas are inundated with rain even as Alfred weakens as it approaches the mainland.

While Alfred was downgraded to an ex-tropical cyclone on Saturday morning, the tropical low brought sustained and intense rainfall. The weather system has stalled off the coast and is expected to make landfall later today.

Thora, Dorrigo and surrounding areas flooded on Saturday morning, with parts of Mullumbimby and Bellingen under water as of Saturday afternoon. Residents in low-lying areas were previously told to evacuate.

New watch and act flood warnings have also been issued for Casino, Kyogle and surrounding areas with intense rainfall forecast across the weekend, while low-lying areas of Lismore were flooded overnight.

The Bureau of Meteorology previously warned Lismore would flood by Saturday afternoon, however, water has yet to breach the levee protecting the city with the Wilsons River stabilising. The city and surrounding areas were placed under a watch and act order as of 12.30pm Saturday.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Mick Logan said on Saturday morning that major flooding is likely across Saturday.

The ex-tropical cyclone is making its way north-west at a speed of 6km/h and brings intense rainfall. Credit: weatherzone

“River levels in the Wilsons River are still rising,” he said. “There are peaks that are upstream that are yet to come through. That does mean, with the combination of that and further rainfall, that major flooding is likely.”

The levee has a maximum height of about 10.7 metres. Water reached nearly 10 metres at the levee, exceeding the moderate flood level. About 2pm on Saturday, areas of Wilsons River peaked at 10.3 metres.

Lismore has received more than 130 millimetres of rain since midnight, on top of yesterday’s 121 millimetres.

Residents in South Lismore and along the creeks have been told to move to higher ground, with flooding making evacuation no longer possible.

The still-reeling Northern Rivers town was devastated by record flooding in 2022, with floodwaters reaching 14.4 metres.

State Emergency Service Commissioner Mike Wassing labelled Saturday “D-Day” for the state.

“Today, effectively, is D-Day. Irrespective of the crossing of the cyclone currently in Queensland, we’re still seeing very strong winds, but more importantly, we’re still seeing very heavy rainfalls, and therefore river rises, flash flooding and continued inundation of many areas,” he said.

The State Emergency Service (SES) has 128 warnings, 40 of which are emergency warnings, in place across the state. About 20,000 residents are now under evacuation warnings. Flood advice warnings extend as far south as Taree and as far west as Coonamble, north of Dubbo.

Wind intensity dropped as Alfred crossed Moreton Island, off the coast of Queensland, about 2am. Wind gusts of up to 85km/h are now being recorded, down from a previous high of 155km/h. It is now expected to cross the mainland coast between Maroochydore and Bribie Island on Saturday afternoon and to weaken in strength as it approaches.

Speaking from Lismore, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the region was “not out of the woods”.

“The rivers are full. The rain is continuing and expected to keep falling in the days ahead, and wind conditions are very high and extreme, particularly on the coast,” he said.

“Lots of communities have had an incredibly stressful week while they’ve been waiting for this cyclone to move through. And I want to assure them that the flood response, that the cyclone response, has been for the entire Northern Rivers stretching down into the Coffs region.”

NSW Deputy Premier Prue Car said the region was dealing with “several disasters at once”.

“It’s not just the onslaught of the actual passing of the ex-tropical cyclone, but of course, the heavy wind and the rainfall and the subsequent flash flooding that we’re seeing in places like Lismore,” she said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged the mental health challenges.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday morning that residents in the region would experience “lasting” mental health issues as a result of forecast flooding and evacuations.

“Some of these communities have copped it time and time again, and that just makes it so tough for people who’ve rebuilt and recovered and who then find another wave of trauma heading their way along with the cyclone,” he said.

Over 300 schools in NSW’s north will remain closed on Monday. An update on whether they will remain closed on Tuesday will be provided later this weekend.

NSW Premier Chris Minns and Lismore residents watch the river rise at the Browns Creek Pumping Station.Credit: Nick Moir

Police are still searching for a man swept into floodwaters in northern NSW on Friday.

The man was driving across a bridge in his 4WD 25 kilometres north-east of Dorrigo about 2pm. He initially managed to get out of the vehicle and secure himself to a tree branch about 30 metres from the river bank. However, he was swept away about 3pm and hasn’t been seen since.

Acting Coffs/Clarence Police District Commander Detective Chief Inspector Guy Flaherty said the search efforts had been hampered by weather conditions.

“We are dealing with an evolving, dynamic weather event which presents unique search and rescue challenges,” he said.

“The search and the assessment of the area has been ongoing by local police … but we will only be looking at where we can safely put our SES and police into those areas.”

Speaking in Lismore on Friday afternoon, Minns said thousands of people had already left, following advice from the SES.

“If you’re one of the few people remaining in your house, and you’re in an evacuation area, you’re one of the only people in your street left, and you will literally be by yourself,” Minns said.

“Please follow these evacuation orders unless you have to stay off the roads.”

He remained in Lismore on Saturday, meeting with residents.

About 300,000 homes across northern NSW and South East Queensland remain without power and 250,000 of which are Queensland.

There are 21 evacuation centres open in NSW, which have received nearly 750 people.

Minister for the North Coast Rose Jackson said there had been significant challenges at evacuation centres as road closures hindered restocking.

On Friday night, gale force winds blew the roof off an unoccupied evacuation centre.

“There are issues with our partner organisations moving food and bedding around. The M1 has been closed for some time, and that does provide some challenges accessing the centres, but we worked through that yesterday and ensured that everyone who turned up to an evacuation centre had access to some food and had access to bedding,” she said.

Tweed residents are under emergency water restrictions as power outages impact water pumps. Drinking water can be collected at evacuation centres.

The weather bureau’s latest update, current at 2.30pm on Saturday (AEDT), forecast ex-Cyclone Alfred to cross the mainland early on Saturday afternoon.

Alfred was 65 kilometres north-east of Brisbane and 40 kilometres south-east of Maroochydore and was moving slowly. It was previously forecast to hit Brisbane’s CBD but will now hit north of the city.

The cyclone swell caused a whale carcass, which had been buried in Mooball Beach, in Tweed on the NSW north coast, to wash ashore earlier on Saturday morning.

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