Frightening footage shows residents and horses trapped on a bridge surrounded by floodwaters as the deadly ‘rain bomb’ that flooded south-east Queensland and northern NSW barrels south to Sydney where it will threaten millions.
Australia’s biggest city faces huge downpours of up to 200mm over the next 24 hours in the wake of a flooding catastrophe in the state’s north. More than 1,000 residents have already been rescued across the state, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Tuesday.
A further 40,000 people have been ordered to evacuate – mostly near flood-prone Lismore – and a further 300,000 NSW residents have been warned to get ready to flee their homes.
Harrowing aerial vision shows a convoy of at least 20 cars plus several horses trapped on a bridge at Woodburn, south of Lismore – with nearby homes already inundated by incredibly high waters
‘They could be there for hours and hours, if not days,’ Sunrise host David Koch commented.
‘It looks as though the SES are there making sure everyone is OK. At one end of the bridge, there is a couple of boats, but that is extraordinary, in a sea of water.’
‘You would think the guy the front of the queue could move forward a bit so the guy at the back can move forward a bit?’
Other footage shows stranded residents in Ballina sitting on their roof with their pets anxiously waiting for help after being told it was too late to evacuate.
A convoy of at least 20 cars and several horses are trapped on a bridge at Woodburn near Lismore in northern NSW
A Ballina resident and his dog anxiously wait on the roof of his home waiting for help to arrive
More than 1,000 residents have already been rescued across NSW. Pictured is Woodburn underwater
A flock of cattle are surrounded by floodwaters in Tumblegum in far northern NSW
The torrential rain that sparked flooding in northern NSW and south-east Queensland is on its way south to Sydney, with the city bracing for a 200mm dumping on Tuesday alone.
Australia’s biggest city is bracing for heavy rain and possible flooding over the next 48 hours as thousands of residents in northern NSW are rescued from their roofs and the Brisbane River peaks again in south-east Queensland reports.
Sydneysiders have been urged to stay home amid warnings from authorities of commuter chaos on Tuesday and Wednesday due to the wild weather.
In the Lismore and surrounding regions in northern NSW, some 300,000 residents have been ordered to prepare to evacuate at short notice, with Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke telling Radio 2GB: ‘Prepare to leave at very short notice.’
‘Heavy to torrential rain’ is forecast for Sydney, the Illawarra and the South Coast on Tuesday night with minor flooding warnings for the upper Nepean River, Cooks River, Georges and Woronora Rivers and St George Basin.
Communities from the NSW mid north coast to as far the south coast are bracing for the deluge, with the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) advising people to prepare for more ‘unprecedented’ weather to lash the state.
‘Heavy rain, strong to damaging winds and waves look likely to develop from Tuesday evening as a low moves towards the central parts of the NSW coast. Multiple warnings are now in place,’ BOM tweeted.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino added: ‘A number of forecast models suggest that a low pressure system could deepen over the Tasman Sea from Tuesday and approach the central NSW coast on Wednesday.
‘This will be a system to watch in the coming days as it could bring more severe weather in eastern Australia.’
Thousands of Lismore residents remain stranded with the Wilson River not expected to fall below major flood levels until Wednesday
Lismore residents woke up on Tuesday morning to find most of the city still underwater
The wild weather that has lashed Lismore (pictured) is making its way down the NSW coast
It’s estimated around 1,000 Lismore residents still needed rescuing on Tuesday
This aerial shot shows much of Lismore still underwater on Tuesday morning
A woman carries a baby as people use small boats to travel through flood water in Lismore, NSW on Monday, February 28, 2022. Heavy rain is bringing record flooding to some east coast areas
Flash flooding is a ‘big concern’ for SES crews in Sydney’s west, the north and parts of NSW’s south coast.
‘Localised flooding is the biggest concern for us, that’s when flood rescues occur … we’re also watching for any riverine flooding too, particularly around Menangle,’ spokesman Phil Campbell said.
‘There is also flooding expected in Shoalhaven, and parts of Sydney’s west which are prone to it. We will also have crews stationed in Taren Point, Wolli Creek, and on the Northern Beaches near Avalon … all the usual suspects are (expected to flood).’
‘But the real concern is going to be on Wednesday, commuter roads flood as they are expected to … if the rain does intensify, it’ll be difficult commute for people tomorrow, people should consider working from home if they can.’
NSW SES has made a record-breaking number of flood rescues in the past 24 hours, and has responded to almost 950 desperate calls for help across northern NSW.
The city of Lismore remains cut off, where more than 1,000 stranded residents are trapped or waiting to be rescued on Tuesday morning, according to local mayor Steve Krieg.
‘There was a family of five people that were sitting on a roof about 15 km out of Lismore who were awaiting getting airlifted,’ Mr Krieg told ABC Radio.
‘So 400 calls could translate to anywhere up to 1000 people still.’
More than 4,000 rescues were performed on Monday with civilians pitching in help relieve the emergency demand on emergency services.
‘There were civilian water craft out and about, kayaks, jet skis and fishing boats all lending a hand and I know that goes against every protocol but with the sheer volume of people that need saving and rescuing, it is great to see a community like Lismore come together and help each other out,’ Mr Krieg told the Today show on Tuesday.
Lismore residents will have to wait until Wednesday before the Wilson River falls below major levels.
Around 300,000 residents are currently subject to evacuation warnings.
‘My message to those people is please prepare to leave at very short notice,’ Ms Cooke told 2GB.
‘Please have your bag packed, please have your supplies – your mobile phone and a charger to charge it.’
‘Our attention at the moment is firmly on saving lives and keeping people safe,’
The Mary River at Maryborough (pictured underwater on Monday) is expected to peak on Tuesday morning
Residents in the nearby town Ballina in low lying areas were urged to immediately evacuate to higher ground on Tuesday morning.
Ballina mayor Sharon Cadwallader says the town is bracing for a one-in-500-year flood amid fears up to 7,000 homes will be inundated with water.
Residents in South Ballina have been told it’s already too late to leave.
‘You should immediately move to the highest safe place now, such as higher ground or inside a sturdy multi-storey building to upper levels as high above water levels as possible,’ NSW SES posted.
‘Do not leave your location unless it is safe to do so.’
Around 150km south of Ballina, the town of Grafton is also under threat with a major flood warning for the Clarence River and a major to moderate warning for the Orara River at Glenreagh and Coutts Crossing.
Many Brisbane suburbs remained underwater on Tuesday morning (pictured, a flooded road in Milton)
South-east Queensland residents are also bracing more heavy rain and flooding with dam releases and heavy rain on the way.
The Brisbane River is expected to rise to 3.7m at 9am on Tuesday after peaking at 3.85m on Monday.
The Logan River is set to exceed the record 2017 flood level of 20.50m when tropical cyclone Debbie hit while Mary River at Maryborough could also reach a peak of 10.5m
More than 1200 homes across Brisbane were still without electricity on Monday night after the city copped 795mm in the last seven days, its wettest week since records began in 1840.
Emergency services are monitoring a crane on a pontoon that broke free of its moorings near the Story Bridge on Monday afternoon.
Queensland Rail’s southeast services and Brisbane River ferries remain suspended with a limited bus service available.
Gold Coast beaches remain closed on Tuesday while some schools in Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Lockyer Valley will reopen.
It comes as the weather crisis heads further south with very high winds and flooding forecast to hit Sydney in the next 48 hours.
The bureau has issued a flood watch for the Mid North Coast, Central Coast, Greater Sydney, the Illawarra and the South Coast. There are also major flood warnings for rivers in the state’s north and minor to moderate flood warnings on the Mid North Coast.
‘Many would have seen distressing images of survival and there are many distressing reports, particularly around the Lismore area, of people who are isolated and currently stranded,’ NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said.
‘Simply because your community has not flooded in the past does not mean it will not flood over the course of this week … we would expect things to get worse over this period of time.’
The rain fell in record-breaking numbers in northern NSW in the 24 hours to 9am on Monday, with 775mm of rain in Dunoon, 537mm in Nimbin, 520mm in Mullumbimby and in 467mm Lismore.
A woman (pictured) is assisted to higher ground as people use small boats to travel through flood water in Lismore
Flooding in Lismore (pictured), north-eastern New South Wales on Monday, February 28, 2022
A McDonald’s sign (pictured) is all that’s visible in a flooding scene from Lismore, New South Wales
Milton resident Jillian Handyside is seen at her flooded house in Brisbane, Monday, February 28, 2022
People are pictured on flooded streets in Lismore in northern New South Wales
An ominous map of Queensland and northern NSW (pictured) has revealed the regions hardest hit by the incessant deluge as residents fight to keep their heads above water
State Emergency Service commissioner Carlene York said even with the best forecasting, it was hard to tell which areas would be worst hit.
‘The issues with these types of east coast lows is that it just depends where it goes – how close to the coast and what path it travels. And then the unknown is where it will actually drop the heaviest rainfall,’ she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Sydney is predicted to get up to 90mm of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, while further south, Kiama is forecast to get up to 80mm on Tuesday and 150mm on Wednesday.
The Batemans Bay region will be inundated with similar levels on Wednesday and Thursday.
As the low moves south on Tuesday, communities from the NSW Mid North Coast to the South Coast are bracing for what is coming
A man is pictured carrying a child as people wade through flood water in Lismore, NSW on Monday, February 28, 2022
A man (pictured) is wrapped in a blanket to shield from the rain as water floods through Lismore
A police officer is pictured carrying a child through flood water in Lismore on Monday, February 28, 2022
Flooding in seen the city of Lismore, northe-astern New South Wales on Monday, February 28
Rescue boats are pictured operating in the flooded city of Lismore in northern New South Wales
The huge geographic spread of the floods is stretching emergency resources. Ms York said the SES resisted sending more people to northern NSW to ensure there was capacity down south when needed.
‘We have moved extra members up into the Northern Rivers district, but also we have retained our volunteers and other emergency service partner members down on the South Coast to make sure that they are in the stages of planning, and also getting messaging out and communication out to the community to prepare them for this event as it comes through,’ she said.
Ms York said the rain coming to Sydney is unlikely to be as heavy as the storms up north, but could still lead to flash flooding.
‘That is affected by the amount of saturation that’s in the land at the moment that there is no way for the water to run as it falls onto the ground, which will cause flash flooding and that’s a very dangerous situation for any motorists.’
After floods inundated at least 20,000 homes in Brisbane over the weekend, Lismore in northern NSW was the next major centre to be slammed by the disaster.
The entire Lismore CBD was underwater on Monday after days of heavy rain that led to the Wilsons River breaching its levee overnight, with roads cut off.
Some residents resorted to cutting holes in the corrugated iron roof of their homes so they could climb out to be rescued – with the water above doors and windows.
Waters in Lismore were receding on Monday after peaking at 14.4m. The Brisbane River was also falling with the tide after peaking at 3.5m, but is expected to reach 3.7m on Monday morning.
BoM has warned that flooding could continue to plague Brisbane and the surrounds throughout the week, with persistant showers hitting Wednesday and continuing into the weekend.
Schools will remain closed in Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast on Tuesday, and trains are expected to stay offline for several days.
The Brisbane River peaked at 3.85m at 8am on Monday, the highest level seen since the devastating floods of 2011 – with authorities warning residents of 140 suburbs.
Two catastrophic peaks are expected on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile, a pontoon carrying a crane has broken free of its mooring at the Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane.
A major evacuation was sparked earlier in the day with authorities fearing it xould move downstream and slam into parks or buildings, including Howard Smith Wharves. The situation was monitored overnight.
A tug boat may brought into move the giant crane on Tuesday.
A distraught woman (pictured) is helped through the flood in the town of Lismore
Residents evacuate from flooding occurs in Lismore, on February 28, 2022. A severe weather warning is in place for south-east Queensland and areas in northern New South Wales. The weather pattern will spread further down in NSW on Tuesday and Wednesday
Flooding is pictured having rising to almost the height of streetlights in Lismore, NSW
In NSW, almost 16,000 people across 12 areas including Lismore, Murwillumbah, Mullumbimby and Grafton have been subject to evacuation orders, with another 14,000 in surrounding areas on high alert after record falls in the region.
The unprecedented flood emergency unfolding in northern NSW is likely to worsen in coming days, as Lismore is expected to be submerged under 16 metres of flood water.
With the Wilsons River hitting a record 14.3m on Monday, water surged over the levee defences protecting the city of 30,000.
Mayor Steve Krieg showed the devastating impact the weather was having when he tweeted: ‘If anyone has a boat and can get to Engine Street in South Lismore, there’s a pregnant lady sitting on her roof. HELP please.’
Hundreds of people across the region were been left stranded for hours on rooftops amid the crisis as state and federal emergency services struggled to get to affected areas.
‘The expectation of the flood waters peaking is now above 16 metres in Lismore and for context the previous record was just a tick over 12 metres in 1954,’ NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet told ABC Radio.
He said two defence force Blackhawk helicopters were conducting rescues as flying conditions marginally cleared.
The premier described the inundating flood as ‘unprecedented’ and ‘distressing’.
Rescuers in a flotilla of dinghies and inflatables plucked stranded residents from the rooftops and balconies of submerged homes in Lismore.
Other residents waded to higher ground carrying children, belongings and pets.
Susan Raddatz, an acupuncturist in the city, climbed out of her first floor apartment window where she was rescued at around 11am by other residents on a motorboat.
‘I didn’t believe my eyes,’ she told AAP from a makeshift evacuation centre set up at Goonellabah Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Flood waters inundate Lismore in northern NSW, almost to the top of street signs, on February 28, 2022
A man wearing just his swimming trunks is pictured leading a dog on a string through flooded waters in Lismore
People use small boats to travel through flood water in Lismore on Monday, February 28, 2022
Paramedics and emergency workers are pictured beside a stretcher and an ambulance in flooded waters in Lismore, NSW
Ms Raddatz said the water levels had by that time risen up to three levels of her building, surprising her with the gushing speed.
‘I always thought I’d be safe being on the first floor … It’s never flooded like this. It didn’t take much.
She said lots of gas cylinders were afloat in the muddy waters causing concerns for the volunteers about flammability.
The SES has been overwhelmed with more than 900 calls for help as the region was hit by its worst rainfall ever, with the situation being described as ‘dire’ and ‘catastrophic’.
There are 17 evacuation orders in place across the state’s north while 21 areas are under evacuation warnings, covering around 62,000 people, the premier said.
The crisis is widening, with multiple major flood warnings for north-eastern NSW including the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Bellinger and Clarence rivers.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has offered financial and logistical support to flooded communities, the premier said.
Rainfall of 300-700mm was recorded for northern parts of the Northern Rivers in the last 24 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology (Bom) said.
Dunoon, a small village located roughly 20km north of Lismore, registered a massive 775mm of rain during the 24 hours ending at 9am on Monday.
Weatherzone, a weather monitoring service, said the ‘deluge is the second highest daily rainfall total ever officially observed in NSW’.
The wider affected area is vast, with potentially life-threatening flash-flooding taking in huge areas of the state.
The BoM said Murwillumbah has seen record flooding with its levee flooded.
At Coraki, on the flooded Richmond River, 25km south of Lismore, local Shelly Hayes fled her house to stay with a friend, who lives on a hill.
‘The main street is all under water. The river is higher than I’ve ever seen it,’ said Ms Hayes.
Some of the town’s 2,000 people were sheltering at the Uniting Church but there was ‘no bedding or food’, she said.
‘Looking out my window … it looks like I live on a dam,’ newsagency owner Jenelle Stanford who lives between Mullumbimby and Byron Bay said.
Intense episodes of wild weather will remain a worrying reality prompted by climate change, scientists say.
‘Over the past decades we have already seen an increase in the number and intensity of extreme rainfall events and we are expecting this trend to continue into the future,’ said Dr Nina Ridder, a research associate at UNSW Climate Change Research Centre.
Pictured is a flooding street in Lismore, NSW, where the water has inundated a business
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