NSW flood death toll rises to five as authorities warn the danger remains high

Another person has been killed in the northern NSW floods as authorities warn the danger is far from over.

A fifth person has been found dead during the devastating floods in northern NSW.

Police said the body of a man, believed to be aged in his 40s, was found at Byrril Creek Rd near Terragon, south of Murwillumbah, just after 2pm on Friday.

“The man is yet to be formally identified,” NSW Police said in a statement.

“Officers from Tweed/Byron Police District have attended and established a crime scene.”

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Authorities warn the flood emergency across NSW is “far from over”, with more evacuation orders expected to be issued into the weekend.

A fifth person has died in the floods. Picture: John Grainger

Western Sydney Minister Stuart Ayres warned residents near the Hawkesbury River that more evacuation orders would come in low-lying parts of the Portland and Cumberland Reach.

Floodwaters have peaked lower than the water during the March 2021 floods, but major flooding is still expected to devastate homes and businesses in surrounding areas.

Mr Ayres said there was “still a danger” in the catchment, with NSW SES predicting water levels to rise further.

“We have dodged a bit of the bullet with the rain, but in the low-lying areas of the Hawkesbury, there has been continued evacuation orders,” he told Today on Friday.

“It is important that people look out for what the SES is saying and there will continue to be evacuation orders in low-lying areas.”

As the Warragamba Dam continues to overflow into the Nepean River, Mr Ayres said the government had “managed the dam properly”.

“We just don’t have the storage capacity,” he said.

“If we could raise the dam wall for flood mitigation purposes we could hold almost half of Sydney Harbour back and that would help the people in these parts of the world.”

The Bureau of Meteorology reported major flooding at North Richmond and moderate flooding at Windsor and Sackville, but more rain was predicted into the weekend.

“Along the Hawkesbury and lower Nepean rivers major flooding continues at North Richmond where river levels peaked Thursday afternoon below the March 2021 event,” the bureau said.

The flood emergency across NSW is ‘far from over’ with more evacuation orders expected along the Hawkesbury River. Picture: John Grainger

“River levels at Windsor peaked below the major flood level (12.20m) early Friday morning.

“The Hawkesbury River at North Richmond peaked at 12.95m around 2.45pm Thursday and is currently at 12.24m and falling, with major flooding.

“The Hawkesbury River at Windsor (WPS) peaked at 11.99m around 2.30am Friday, with moderate flooding.”

Meteorologist Dean Narramore confirmed flooding would continue along the Hawkesbury.

He said more rain was due to fall over the weekend along the state’s east.

“Shower and thunderstorm activity will likely become widespread on Sunday and include the Illawarra, Central Coast and the Hunter … some guidance has hinted to another low pressure system developing along the coast of NSW Sunday into Monday,” Mr Narramore told reporters on Friday.

“We’re looking at widespread shower and thunderstorm activity developing across much of eastern NSW … that is not good news for us.

“We could have prolonged moderate and major flood levels on our rivers particularly around the Hawkesbury and Nepean and through the Hunter where rivers will slowly fall and then maintain current heights and possibly renewed rises with that additional rain on Sunday and Monday.”

"The situation around Sydney is far from over"@NSWSES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin says some severe weather and flood warnings are still in place despite rain being worse than expected. pic.twitter.com/BYSKMp4SKT

— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) March 3, 2022

Residents of Portland and Cumberland Reach have been warned the water could inundate their properties and were asked to move to higher ground or head to evacuation centres.

There are also warnings roads could be closed from previous flooding.

While water levels peaked at North Richmond at 12.90m, they are continuing to rise at nearby Windsor with rain expected to continue.

Residents on Wheelbarrow Rd, Greens Rd, Hawkesbury Riverside Retreat, King Rd and River Rd at Lower Portland have been told to evacuate immediately.

Urgent evacuation orders have been issued for residents of Wisemans Ferry, Lower Portland and Cumberland Reach as floodwaters along the Hawkesbury move downstream and threaten low-lying homes.

An evacuation warning has also been issued for residents in Gloucester on the Mid North Coast as river levels continue to rise.

NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin said the flood situation was far from over in Sydney, with another weather system predicted to move through the city over the weekend.

He echoed Mr Ayres’ comments about evacuations near the Hawkesbury River.

The newly completed Windsor Bridge in Windsor is closed as floodwaters continue across the state threatening homes. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

“The situation around Sydney is far from over in that we still are putting out further warnings for areas around Wisemans Ferry,” he said.

“We actually do have major flood levels on these rivers. There is also a potential for another system to start to move through from Sydney as well so still a long way to go.”

Mr Austin said due to the level of preparation from Sydneysiders in recent days there had been “a very low” number of flood rescues in the last 24 hours around the Sydney metro area.

He warned residents who stay behind in flood impacted areas of the northwest could be cut off from power, water and other utilities for “quite some time”.

NSW Police on Friday also announced more than 100 additional officers have been deployed to northern NSW to assist with clean-up efforts across Lismore, Tweed Heads, Ballina and surrounding areas.

Deputy Premier and Police Minister Paul Toole said the state government would be throwing every resource at the situation.

“Deploying these extra officers will make a huge difference on the ground, not only in the immediate response phase, but also during the long road to recovery,” Mr Toole said.

Severe thunderstorms may persist into the weekend and multiple flood warnings are in place across south-east #Qld and eastern #NSW
This rapid scan imagery from Himawari-8 shows severe #thunderstorms this morning over south-east Qld.
Latest warnings: https://t.co/P7NDsA5iNJpic.twitter.com/POzAQ3GxAu

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) March 3, 2022

“These communities have faced some of the toughest times imaginable, but the stories of compassion and bravery from police, volunteers and entire communities rolling up their sleeves to pitch in have been incredible.”

As of Friday morning, there were 161 current evacuation orders and warnings in place across NSW, while multiple roads are also closed as a result of flooding.

Road closures which remain in place are:

• Windsor Bridge, North Richmond Bridge and Yarramundi Bridge are closed;
• Windsor: Hawkesbury Valley Way is closed between Moses St and Percival St;
• Riverstone: Garfield Rd West is closed between Pacer St and Cemetery Rd;
• McGraths Hill: Windsor Rd is closed between Pitt Town Rd and Macquarie St;
• McGraths Hill and Cattai: Pitt Town Rd, Cattai Rd and Wisemans Ferry Road are closed;
• Wallacia: Silverdale Rd is closed over the Nepean River;
• Douglas Park: Douglas Park Causeway is closed;
• Oxford Falls: Oxford Falls Rd is closed between Wakehurst Parkway and Aroona Rd;
• North Turramurra: Bobbin Head Rd is closed between Memorial Rd and Ku-ring-gai Chase Rd;
• Galston and Hornsby Heights: Galston Rd remains closed;
• Royal National Park: Audley Weir remains closed;
• Mt Tomah: Bells Line of Rd is affected by a landslip near the Botanic Gardens. Stop/slow conditions are in place;
• Glenugie to Tintenbar: The M1 Pacific Motorway and Pacific Highway is closed in both directions;
• West Ballina to Uralba: Bruxner Highway is closed and between Sandilands and Malanganee also at South Lismore between Caniaba Rd and Elliott Rd;
• South Grafton to Clarenza: Big River Way is closed; and
• Big River Way is also closed at Tyndale. Thora to Dorrigo Mountain: Waterfall Way is closed due to a landslide.