Mid North Coast rallies as new front approaches

Torrential rainfall and flash flooding is set to worsen along the Mid North Coast, as a new front emerges from the state’s north west.

Authorities have urged residents and travellers to remain vigilant as a new rain front threatens further damage. Picture: Twitter

Hundreds of people have rushed to evacuation centres across the NSW mid-north coast, as emergency services and local officials grapple with failing internet and major disruptions to communication.

Authorities have urged residents and travellers to remain vigilant as a new rain front threatens further damage. Low-lying regions across the Manning and Hastings rivers were due to record another night of torrential rain, with emergency centres across the mid-north coast inundated with evacuees since Friday.

Taree, Laurieton, Camden Head, North Haven, Wauchope, Dunbogan and Port Macquarie remained on high alert, as hundreds of homes, schools and livestock were swept away.

Federal Nationals MP for Lyne, David Gillespie, who lives in one of the affected regions, said “we are experiencing the worst floods in more than 40 years and the problem is it’s still going … the levels in the Hastings are already beginning to rise”.

“There are cases where cattle are being swept up from the flats around the upper Hastings River and washing up in Port Macquarie,” Mr Gillespie said.

Port Macquarie-Hastings Mayor Peta Pinson travelled between evacuation centres and emergency meetings all weekend, speaking to affected residents.

“What really struck me was that all these people had when they arrived (at the evacuation centre) was the clothes on their back because they’d been collected in emergency rescue boats,” she said.

Ms Pinson said the evacuation centre at Laurieton, which is sheltering several elderly residents, was particularly heartbreaking. “We’re talking about people who didn’t have that much in the first place, and now they literally have nothing,” she said.

“Today I spoke to many elderly people in evacuation centres, who don’t have social media or go online, and so they don’t yet understand they’ve probably lost their homes or how bad the damage is.”

Heavy rain continues to batter the NSW Mid North Coast causing major flooding in Port Macquarie and surrounding towns. Photo: Nathan Edwards

Local officials and volunteers remain concerned that communications would become increas­ingly disrupted, as a combination of deteriorating weather, flooded roads and washed-up debris have left towns cut off and isolated.   On Sunday afternoon, Peter Tate, who manages the evacuation centre in Wingham, said disruptions were affecting the flow of information and the centre’s ability to get quick updates.

“The system is not fit for purpose. And it just seems ridiculous in a country like Australia that we can’t communications right here,” he said. “They should’ve been fixed after the fires, but now it’s happening again.”

The Wingham evacuation centre was sheltering more than 100 residents on Saturday afternoon, he said, but locals ­“rallied together and helped out”. The centre is now holding about 50 residents.

Mr Tate said there are still hazardous roads and flooding. ­“People still need to be vigilant: some roads have been swept away and there’s still threatening conditions out there. The extent of the damage is not clear … most people still haven’t left evacuation centres because they can’t get back to their homes.”

MidCoast Council Mayor David West said: “It’s very difficult to get any information … we don’t have any internet and we’ve been told it’ll be off the map until Wednesday. At the moment water levels are preventing people from returning to their properties, but we know many people’s livelihoods have been lost.

“The extent of the damage remains hidden by flooding and road closures, but we need to think about the new front coming through.”

As much of the state’s attention turned to the developing situation at Warragamba Dam on Sunday afternoon, Mr West said rural NSW should not be forgotten. “We know the situation at Warragamba Dam is bad, but the rural parts of the coast are suffering.”