NSW floods: 20,000 still under evacuation orders

About 20,000 people remain under evacuation orders and warnings in northern NSW as major flooding continues.

Laani Winkler 25, helps clean friend Kylie Gilmore’s Civic Hotel in Lismore’s CBD, flood-ravaged for the second time in weeks. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

As flood-weary citizens of Lismore returned once again to pick through the ruins of their homes, the fierce storm system that wreaked havoc across northern NSW continued its path down the eastern seaboard, with severe weather warnings issued for most of the NSW coast.

Strong to gale-force winds of up to 100km/h were expected for the rest of the week, with rain increasing across southeast NSW from Friday and flooding possible on the southern coast and highlands.

Lismore embarked on its second major clean-up operation in a month after the low pressure system inundated homes and submerged the town centre.

More than 6000 properties across the Northern Rivers region remain without power.

About 20,000 people remained displaced under 10 active evacuation orders, including for Lismore’s CBD and low-lying surrounds, late on Thursday, though the water had begun to recede after it peaked at 11.4m.

Floodwater broke over the levee on Wednesday for the second time in the course of the flood disaster, submerging streets and cars, washing away debris and erasing the hard-fought gains made by Lismore residents determined to rebuild their lives.

The low pressure system behind the flood event moved south on Thursday, prompting an evacuation order in Iluka and flood warnings for the Clarence River, the Macleay River and the Richmond River among others.

Evacuation orders were rescinded for a string of locations late on Thursday, including Mullumbimby, Condong, Nambucca Heads, Urunga CBD, Bellinger Keys and Tumbulgum.

Lismore publican Kylie Gilmore returned to her pub for the first time on Thursday and waded through thigh-deep water that filled Conway St in the CBD with best friend Kim Winkler and her daughter Laani to begin the clean-up.

When she cracked off the plywood board that had been covering the front door of the Civic Hotel to reveal the gutted insides of her beloved pub, she let out a cry. “Who wants a beer?,” she said, as she surveyed the destroyed interiors of the art deco country pub.

Beer kegs bobbed in murky water outside the pub’s entrance and electrical wiring hung from the roof – a relic from February’s flood when the ceiling collapsed under the weight of the water.

The knee-high mark from the most recent flood was a grim reminder of how close the town had come to destruction for the second time in four weeks.

Despite her grim and filthy surroundings, Ms Gilmore is grateful, but her experience through the course of the flood disaster – which saw her rescued from the second-storey balcony in the dead of night – has left her mistrustful.

“Something is way off with their measurements – BOM and the SES, they keep getting it wrong,” she said. “This time it was different; where it went, where it didn’t go, how deep it was. The whole town is shot.”

Laani Winkler, 25, who helped with the last clean-up, said because of difficulties in beginning the renovations while much of Lismore was still cut off from the power supply, there had been little for them to lose. “We’ve just started plastering and painting and now it’s gone,” she said. “But you just have to do it all again. It’s just sad, but there’s nothing else to do.”

Lismore resident Leisa Russell, 54, whose century-old weatherboard house on the Bruxner Highway was engulfed by a “tsunami” a month ago, is still sleeping in her shed but counts herself lucky the water peaked just 30cm high on her bottom floor. “When I heard (the floods were coming back), I just thought, here we go again,” she said. “It’s going to go to the same height as last time and the anxiety kicked in.”

Ms Russell was tears when she spoke of unknown strangers who rescued her from her second-floor window a month ago. “It all just comes back … for it to happen again would be unthinkable. To think about the few things I’ve managed to save being washed away again – I couldn’t bear it.”