Heavy rain causing major flooding in NSW

Australian Community Media

Bursts of heavy rain wreaking havoc across coastal parts of NSW.

Transcript

00:00Widespread heavy rainfall leading to major flooding through parts of the Hunter and the

00:05mid-north coast of New South Wales. We can see what's been driving that over the last 12 hours.

00:10We've seen persistent heavy rainfall coming onto the coast between Newcastle and Port Macquarie,

00:16particularly around the Taree area where we've seen heavy falls. And in the last few hours you

00:21can see that focus is shifting slightly north and slightly inland as well. But in the 24 hours to

00:27nine o'clock this morning, we saw widespread falls of 100 to 200 millimetres. And I want to point

00:32you to some of these orange, these purple dots here. That shows Taree had 279 millimetres in the

00:3924 hours to nine o'clock this morning, and Port Macquarie had 239 millimetres. While we also had

00:45widespread falls extend well inland as well. And that's what's caused our major flooding. Now looking

00:51at some of our warnings in that area where the heaviest rainfall was overnight, you can see

00:56numerous major flood warnings occur. Now that does include major flooding on the Mannings River,

01:01the Gloucester River, as well as the Williams River and the Patterson River. We saw major flooding

01:06this morning around Dungog and we're also experiencing major flooding around the Gloucester

01:11area as well. And further rainfall is likely to lead to renewed river level rises in these areas,

01:17particularly as the focus of the rainfall shifts further north. And because of that,

01:21we do have a severe weather warning current and that extends from Coffs Harbour all the way down

01:26to around Forster and extends well inland as well. What that means is if you live in this yellow

01:31highlighted area, we're likely to see heavy to locally intense rainfall today and into tonight,

01:38that could lead to further flash and riverine flooding and rapid rises on our rivers, creeks and streams

01:44that are already saturated. So please, if you live in this area or know someone that does, make sure you

01:50stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via the Bureau's website and app and listen

01:54to advice from emergency services. But let's have a look at how that's going to play out through the

01:58next couple of days. Firstly, you can see this continuous band of rainfall extending through much

02:05of the mid north coast and northern parts of the Hunter through today into tonight and into the early

02:10hours on Wednesday. And then we'll see a bit of a jump towards the north through Wednesday with that

02:14rain moving up towards the Grafton area and the focus of the heaviest falls around the Port Macquarie

02:19to Coffs Harbour region. Then as we move through Wednesday night and Thursday, it might shift south

02:25again as we get through Thursday night back towards the Sydney and Newcastle area. But note the next 48

02:31hours, we're going to see continuous rainfall, particularly between Coffs Harbour through Port Macquarie,

02:36Taree, down through Forster and into Newcastle. We're not finally not easing until we get into

02:42Friday. So what does that mean in terms of total rainfall? We're likely to see widespread 50 to 150

02:49millimetres on top of what's already fallen. And notice some of these black areas here,

02:53that's indicating falls in excess of 150 millimetres and that's going to lead to further river,

03:00creek and stream rises in this area. So the focus of the heaviest falls are around the mid north coast

03:06and the Hunter region. But note as we get into Thursday and Friday, we could see some of that

03:10rainfall extending well inland. Some welcome news for those really needing rain further inland,

03:15but another wet few days on the way, particularly through central and southern coastal areas.

03:20So to reiterate, severe weather warnings are current for heavy rainfall between Coffs Harbour

03:26and Forster and extending inland, as this yellow area is likely to see further heavy rainfall

03:31in the coming 12, 24 and 36 hours. And numerous minor, moderate and major flood warnings are also

03:39current in these regions. So if you live on these rivers, creeks and streams or know someone that does,

03:44it is vital that you stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings via our website,

03:49app and social media and listen to all advice from emergency services.

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