Woman’s body found as NSW floods turn fatal, Moree the epicentre of disaster
The body of a young woman has been found in floodwaters at Gulgong, with Moree in the state’s north now at the epicentre of the flood disaster.
The body of a young woman in her 20s has been found in floodwaters at Gulgong, north of Mudgee, as regions across NSW brace for more flood disasters.
Emergency services made the grim discovery about 9.50am on Monday morning almost 12 hours after she became separated from the group she was travelling with.
The group of four — including a 45-year-old male driver, two male passengers aged 43 and 26 — are believed to have been swept into floodwaters near Cooyal Creek while travelling along Spring Creek Road.
All four passengers in the Toyota Kluger were able to escape, but the woman was then swept away into the rushing floodwaters.
A search team of NSW Police, SES and Volunteer Rescue Association, as well as the Toll Rescue Helicopter, spent the night looking for the woman.
In a statement, NSW Police said a report would now be prepared for the coroner.
Towns across NSW remain underwater as emergency services flagged Moree as the epicentre of the horrific weather.
The worst of the weather is expected on Tuesday with more rain and severe thunderstorms before a reprieve but the Bureau of Meteorology warned a second weather system was on their radar and could see the rain return on Sunday.
Premier Dominic Perrottet once again asked people to stop driving through flood waters as he confirmed a body found in Moree was believed to be of a 28-year-old woman.
“You wouldn’t drive through bushfires, don’t drive through flood waters,” he said.
“We continue to see people driving through flood waters… we cannot be any clearer than that.”
There are still nine major flood warnings in place and 26 flood warnings overall.
Lismore residents have had some relief with initial warnings of major flooding downgraded.
SES Commissioner Carlene York urged people to follow evacuation orders as volunteers dropped off food and medication to trapped towns across the state.
“It’s really important you are aware of the dangers if you are planning to travel,” she said.
Most areas in the Northerns Rivers have already received more than 100mm of rain while Yamba and Port Macquarie got 70-80mm each.
On Sunday NSW residents were warned of a flood risk in “every corner” of the state, with Sydney currently in the eye of the storm as rain moves south.
With more thunderstorms predicted and the State Emergency Service (SES) issuing 140 warnings – including 21 emergency warnings – NSW is bracing for disaster.
There are signs the severe weather may not ease until midweek, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning the heavy falls that lashed the country’s eastern states at the weekend could spread even further.
Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke warned there were more flood threats to communities than at any other time this year and said “we literally have a flood risk in every corner of the state”.
The Premier insisted emergency services across the battered state were ready to assist if conditions worsened.
“We currently have 550 SES volunteers in the field, right across our state looking after our communities and that’s on top of our RFS support, police, maritime rescue … it is our men and women who continue to ensure the protection of our flood-affected communities,” he said.
Mr Perrottet said he had written to the federal government for further financial support for regional areas hit by flooding in recent weeks.
Since the flooding event was declared on September 14, the SES has received 6441 requests for assistance and performed over 200 flood rescues across NSW.
In the last 24 hours since Monday morning, crews have taken 445 calls for help and conducted 34 flood rescues statewide, leaning on more than 100 Australian Defence Force troops who have been dispatched to assist.
NSW’S CENTRAL WEST AND WESTERN PLAINS
Although a severe thunderstorm warning has been cancelled for the Central West Slopes and Plains, major flooding continues to threaten rural properties across both regions.
Towns in Dubbo and Mudgee have become some of the hardest-hit areas from recent torrential rainfall.
Emergency warnings are in place in Dubbo library and surrounding parklands and Western Plains Tourist Park, while five flood ‘watch and act’ warnings have been issued for neighbouring areas.
In addition to last week’s deluge, the country town of Mudgee has copped another 78mm since 9am on Sunday and residents have also been told to evacuate in low lying areas.
Major flooding is still occurring on the Lachlan River, which has breached 7.8m and is still rising at Euabalong. Meanwhile, other river locations in Hillston, Condobolin, Warren and Jemalong Weir are reporting steady levels.
Emergency services were called to Cooyal Creek. about 30km north of Mudgee, about 11pm Sunday after a vehicle was swept into flood waters from Spring Creek Road.
The driver, a 45-year-old man, and two male passengers – aged 43 and 26 – escaped the vehicle and made their way to safety.
A third passenger – a woman aged in her 20s – is missing despite reportedly making out of the vehicle as well.
Land and water searches have been unable to locate the woman or the vehicle. The search was set to resume Monday morning.
NSW NORTH COAST
A low-pressure system is moving south down the coast and battering the northeast of NSW with moderate to heavy rainfall.
Since 9am on Sunday, several coastal and inland towns in the state’s Far North Coast and Mid North Coast have been drenched in rain dumps exceeding 100mm, leading to 26 flood warnings.
Flood-stricken Lismore has copped 127mm in just over 19 hours while nearby Alstonville has seen 233mm dumped in just under 22 hours.
Further north, 192mm of rain has dropped on Doon Doon, northwest of Mullumbimby – which has seen a combined 271mm over the creek and upper main – in under 20 hours.
In the Coffs Harbour hinterland, Lowanna has copped a total of 201mm of rain in the past week. Other surrounding suburbs saw drops over 100mm, including Nymboida with 125mm, Meldrum with 105mm and Dorrigo with 104.6mm, in the same period.
While a hazardous surf warning remains in place for the coasts of Bryon, Coffs and Macquarie, inland residents are being warned for minor to major flooding along the Tweed and Richmond Rivers in the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast regions.
It is possible that rivers will continue to swell and threaten properties in Brunswick, Clarence, Bellinger and Nambucca Rivers.
Lismore mother Jahnaya Mumford was busy Sunday afternoon packing her house after being ordered by the SES to evacuate by Monday morning. She and her young family had only moved back into the house in July after it was damaged by earlier floods.
“I don’t want to be here (in this house) anymore – I just rang my mum and cried to my mum and said I can’t do it anymore,” she said. “I’m f … ing mentally exhausted”.
BOM forecasters said the Wilson River was forecast to exceed the moderate flood level of 7.2m on Monday morning and it could swell to 9.7m – the major flood level – by the afternoon or evening.
Meteorologist Jane Golding said they were “concerned” for the Northern Rivers region as a low pressure system off the coast of southern Queensland was bringing heavy rainfalls.
NSW NORTH WEST
While heavy rainfall ceased for most of the state’s northwest over the weekend, residents are being told to evacuate parts of Gunnedah North as major flooding continues to impact the area.
An emergency evacuation order is also in place for Carroll Village while the centre of town and the nearby suburb of Tamworth are under flood ‘watch and act’.
Further north, people are being urged to move to higher grounds in Terry Hie Hie and Moree, where a total of nine evacuation orders have been issued across both towns.
South Moree is being monitored closely.
It comes as the Mehi and Gwydir rivers broke their banks after heavy rain, with Moree farmers predicting the flooding of 120,000ha of wheat would mean the loss of crops worth more than $190m.
NSW Farmers Grains Committee chair Justin Everitt said: “You spend all this money preparing your paddocks, sowing your crops, fertilising and spraying them, only to see them wiped out a couple weeks before harvest – it’s heartbreaking.”
Incredible drone photos taken from above Moree on Sunday showed the devastation caused by the floodwaters, with whole streets turned into canals. The photos also showed large swathes of farmland under water.
Evacuation orders were issued for North and South Lismore on Sunday afternoon with the community expecting its third major flood event this year.
“If you remain in the area, you may become trapped without power, water and other essential services,” the SES alert read.
“It may be too dangerous for NSW SES to rescue you.”
SOUTHERN NSW
There are 13 emergency flood warnings in the state’s south calling for residents to evacuate in Moama, Cummeragunja, Picnic Point, Mathoura East, Murray Valley and Narrandera.
The Murray River at Echuca on the Victorian border peaked at 94.90m on Monday and surpassed the town’s 1993 flood levels.
Meanwhile, daily rainfall totals for suburbs on the south coast have stayed relatively steady with the highest drop of 66mm recorded in Porters Creek in the last 24 hours.
Properties in the Clyde Shire near Ulladulla have seen the most rain in the region with downpours between 40mm to 66mm falling on inland and coastal suburbs.
In the northwest towards the Victorian border, Thredbo saw 50mm in since 9am on Sunday, while areas in and around Bega, Snowy and Shoalhaven have recorded smaller dumps ranging from 8mm to 25mm.
Residents of Moama on the NSW-Victorian border were bracing for the worst of the severe weather on Sunday night with a potential further peak mid week as backed-up water in the Murray River makes its way downstream.
Originally published as Woman’s body found as NSW floods turn fatal, Moree the epicentre of disaster
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