Cautious optimism in Lismore as authorities warn town ‘not out of woods yet’

Cautious optimism abounds in Lismore where hopes have grown that it has avoided a repeat of 2022’s flooding devastation – although the Premier is calling for caution.

Flooding in the Lismore CBD receded on Sunday as residents were encouraged to return with caution. Picture: Glenn Campbell

You can now listen to The Australian's articles. Give us your feedback.

You can now listen to The Australian's articles.

Cautious optimism abounds in Lismore where hopes have grown that the northern NSW town has avoided a repeat of 2022’s flooding devastation, although the Premier, Chris Minns, warned the region’s “fluid situation” meant no one was “out of the woods yet”.

Rainfall eased slightly on Sunday, although flooding fears remained for the Clarence River and around Grafton, and the region was bracing for more rain as the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred turn south on Monday.

Lismore residents, however, were encouraged to “return with caution” to the town’s CBD, after the NSW State Emergency Service revised its evacuation warning and the Bureau of Meteo­rology did the same for flood concerns at Wilsons River.

Speaking from the rain-battered town, Mr Minns said that while those developments were encouraging, northern NSW was “not out of the woods yet”.

“This is a fluid situation,” the Premier said. “The rain is falling unevenly across the catchments, and as a result, there’ll be different advice for different valleys and communities.”

By Sunday evening, the SES had 28 emergency warnings active for areas across the north coast, including in Smithtown, Gladstone, parts of the Kalang River, parts of Mylestom, Carrs ­Island in Grafton, and parts of both East and North Bellingen, among others. The bureau was still warning of major flooding around the Tweed, Clarence and Namuba rivers, but had revised down its warning for Lismore’s Wilsons River to moderate.

Mr Minns on Sunday urged caution, encouraging residents to adhere closely to SES advice.

Premier Chris Minns, centre, and Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib, right, in Lismore.

“We’re watching very closely the river systems in the Northern Rivers,” he said. “There’s still a lot of rain out there. There are still a lot of swollen rivers, although there are obviously some encouraging signs, and the latest information out of the Wilsons (River) is encouraging.”

But he said the situation remained “volatile”, confirming the SES had issued prepare to evacuate notices for low-lying communities near the Clarence River.

“We’re experiencing, in that Northern Rivers western section, a heightened level of rainfall,” Mr Minns said, praising the 600 or so ­Essential Energy “sparkies” who had reconnected about 30,000 properties on Saturday night.

SES operations commander, Acting Chief Superintendent Stuart Fisher, said that as rain subsided and river levels decreased, other areas in the Northern Rivers would soon also start to have their warnings reviewed, like Lismore’s.

He reiterated that drivers should not cross flooded roads under any circumstances, revealing the SES had rescued a family of eight who got stuck in flood water on Saturday night.

Floodwaters reach the levee walls holding back the Wilsons River in Lismore on Sunday. Picture: AFP

“Do not drive through flooded waters … it absolutely astounds me that this still occurs,” he said.

The chief of the NSW Reconstruction Authority, Mal Lanyon, said he was in constant communication with the SES to ensure areas could transition from “response” to “recovery”.

“I’m very much of the view that we will do that in a staggered approach,” he said.

In the Tweed, residents were urged to boil their tap water after damage to infrastructure across the region and Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said residents would be able return to their homes in the coming days when the SES deemed it safe to do so.

“There are other parts up and down the coast that are still under evacuation warnings,” he said.

“We know that people want to get back to their lives as quickly as possible and what we want to make sure is that we can do that in a very safe environment.”