Flash Floods Heavy Rains force Australian Evacuations
Pastor Dale Morgan
Flash Floods Heavy Rains force Australian Evacuations*
June 08, 2007 11:11pm
Article from: AAP
AT least 500 people are being evacuated in NSW's Newcastle area because
of flash flooding brought on torrential rains over the past 24 hours.
Phil Campbell of the Hunter Region State Emergency Service (SES) said
the people were being taken to evacuation centres, with volunteers
focusing on helping the most vulnerable.
He said the evacuation operation was likely to continue well into the night.
“We are having a lot of flash flooding ... at the present time in the
Hunter area, particularly in the Newcastle area and environs,” he said.
“The worst affected areas are around Wallsend in the western suburbs of
Newcastle and areas such as Hamilton North.
“We have at least 500 people that are being evacuated at the present time.
“We are focusing on the at risk, the vulnerable and young children and
those people are being evacuated through to evacuation centres.
“At this stage, with heavy rain still falling, we are having an ongoing
evacuation operation.
“It certainly could continue for some hours yet until this rain eases
and the flood threat diminishes.”
He said the SES was working closely with the Bureau of Meteorology to
monitor the situation.
“There are a number of flood warnings that have been issued for river
systems both in the Hunter and the Central Coast area,” he said.
“We are working very closely with the bureau to make sure we monitor
those river rises and should it be required we will make sure we
evacuate residents who are at risk.”
He said the Hunter was expected to remain the worst hit area, although
it “may slip further south toward the Central Coast”.
NSW Premier declares natural disaster
June 08, 2007 09:52pm
Article from: AAP
NSW Premier Morris Iemma has declared a "natural disaster" for the
Hunter and Central Coast regions after severe storms over the past 24
hours caused widespread damage.
Mr Iemma said the declaration of a natural disaster area triggered a
range of assistance for individual residents, business owners and
councils whose properties have been damaged by the strong winds, rain
and flooding.
“Importantly, the declaration of a natural disaster ensures councils are
reimbursed for the cost of repairing public infrastructure, including
local roads and bridges damaged by fast-flowing floodwaters and debris,”
Mr Iemma said.
Mr Iemma said he had also invoked the state employment protection
provisions to cover emergency services volunteers who help those
affected by the wild storms.
Under the declaration, the order will remain in force until June 22.
“The vast majority of employers are always willing to allow their
workers who are emergency services volunteers to respond to emergencies
and their support is invaluable,” he said.
*Floodwaters strand 500 schoolkids
*
June 08, 2007 09:32pm
Article from: AAP
POLICE say about 500 pupils have been stranded by flood waters at their
NSW Central Coast school tonight.
The students from St Peters College at Tuggerah had been unable to leave
the secondary school's grounds due to today's flooding rains, police said.
No further details were immediately available.
*Nine people missing in road collapse
*
By Karen Davis
June 08, 2007 06:37pm
Article from: AAP
NINE people were missing tonight after a section of highway collapsed in
torrential rain north of Sydney, and an elderly couple swept away in
their car while crossing a creek are also unaccounted for as wild
weather lashed much of NSW today.
The dangerous conditions are continuing across much of NSW tonight, with
high winds and heavy rain bringing down trees and powerlines, blacking
out homes and causing flash flooding.
Police and State Emergency Service (SES) personnel are searching for two
adults, two children and five bystanders who went to their aid when a
section of the Old Pacific Highway collapsed at Somersby, near Gosford,
at about 4pm (AEST) today.
The car the group was travelling in has been found, but police say there
is no sign yet of the missing.
Police and the SES have also been searching for two people washed off a
bridge by flood waters at Clarence Town, near Dungog, in the Hunter Valley.
There have been conflicting reports of another similar incident in the
same location, but police were unable to confirm further details.
The SES has responded to more than 2000 calls for assistance since
Thursday and are expecting to remain busy with the Bureau of Meteorology
(BoM) forecasting 90 to 100km/h winds and heavy rain tonight and into
tomorrow.
"We're expecting more calls overnight as the weather moves into Sydney,"
an SES spokesman said.
"We're seeing heavy rain in Sydney but nothing like the torrential
downpours on the Central Coast and in the Hunter."
Extra volunteers were being called in from as far afield as Broken Hill
and Yass to assist, the spokesman said.
A meeting of the State Emergency Management Committee was also held this
afternoon to receive a briefing on the conditions.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Scipione chaired the meeting and
tonight urged people to stay at home and off the roads as the
long-weekend gets underway, unless they have an urgent need to travel.
"All emergency services and government agencies are monitoring the
weather and will be providing assistance where needed," he said.
The wild weather has left 60,000 homes without power and rainfalls of
more than 100mm have been recorded since 9am (AEST) in parts of the Mid
North Coast, the Hunter Valley and the Central Coast.
Storms have dumped a whopping 174mm at Wyong, near Gosford, while
flooding has forced the evacuation of several properties at Dungog and
Muswellbrook in the Hunter.
Rain has also been falling across the Sydney metropolitan area, with
more expected across the weekend.
Warragamba dam, Sydney's major water supply, has received 20mm since 9am
(AEST).
Turramurra received 30mm of rain since 9am, with 26mm at Wedderburn and
34mm at Woronora Dam in Sydney's south.
A BoM spokesman said some of the falls could be close to breaking 30
year records in some areas.
"With the sort of rainfall totals we have been getting, that's on the
cards in some places."
Flights at Sydney Airport have also been affected.
A Sydney Airport spokesman said delays were expected throughout the
evening due to the weather, particularly wind gusts.
Delays of between 10 and 30 minutes had occurred throughout the day, he
said.
Online flight information for the airport showed several flights had
been cancelled.
Ferry and JetCat services to and from Manly in Sydney have also been
suspended due to unsafe conditions on the harbour.