Northern NSW crisis deepens as floods extend south
http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/01/06/rgn_coraki_wideweb__470x289,0.jpg
Residents of the Richmond River town of Coraki play amid floodwaters rising around the Club Hotel yesterday.
Photo: Peter Morris
THE floodwaters swamping northern NSW edged their way south last night, with no quick end in sight to a crisis that has left thousands of residents and holidaymakers isolated and caused millions of dollars in damage.
NSW Premier Morris Iemma was due to tour the area this morning to inspect the devastation, where large areas have been declared a natural disaster. The Federal Government said it was on standby to offer whatever assistance was needed to ease a catastrophe that stretched from south-east Queensland deep into NSW.
Warnings last night referred to flood danger as far south as the Hunter Valley.
A line of storms swept through the drenched south-east of Queensland yesterday afternoon, dumping heavy falls on the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the already waterlogged Gold Coast.
State Emergency Service spokesman Andy Christie said residents were mopping up at Logan, Beaudesert and in the Gold Coast hinterland after days of heavy rain and flooding.
“It has certainly added to the flood system because it has gone straight into the run-off waters,” Mr Christie said.
In Brisbane, houses were being sandbagged by SES volunteers at Sinnamon Park, Wishart and Kenmore Hills.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued flood warnings for the Logan, Albert, Coomera and Nerang rivers on the Gold Coast and its hinterland.
NSW State Emergency Services warned people in Kyogle, Coraki, Bungawalbyn, Swan Bay, New Italy and low-lying rural areas that they could expect to be isolated for up to three days.
Farmers were warned to move pumps, other equipment and livestock to higher ground.
The Insurance Council of Australia was yet to estimate the damage to homes and properties because many of them were still inundated and unable to be assessed. But reports from individual towns offered a hint of the size of the damage bill to come.
In sodden Kyogle, mayor Ernie Bennett estimated the damage bill for infrastructure to be between $10 million and $15 million. About 10 bridges in the area had been either washed away or rendered impassable, and countless livestock and fences had been carried off by the water.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees declared Tweed and Kyogle natural disaster zones on Saturday, and was considering declarations for the Richmond Valley and Lismore.
Last night flood warnings were current for the Wilsons, Richmond, Tweed, Bellinger, Clarence, Orara, Bogan, Paroo, MacIntyre and Warrego rivers.
Northern NSW was soaked by further thunderstorms last night and the Bureau of Meteorology warned residents from the far North Coast to the Hunter that flash flooding was possible.
Many campers were forced home when caravan parks at Kyogle, Wooyong and Evans Head were evacuated.
The worst was not over for low-lying towns south of Lismore.
Residents and SES personnel began sandbagging storefronts in the town of Woodburn, where the Richmond River was predicted to peak near 4.5 metres this morning, causing major flooding.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said federal agencies were monitoring weather crises across Australia: the floods in northern NSW and south-east Queensland, and the impact of cyclone Helen in far north Queensland and the Northern Territory.
With HARRIET ALEXANDER and AAP
(Bron: http://www.theage.com.au/)
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200801/r214813_832766.jpgFloodwaters surround the Club Hotel in the cut-off town of Coraki in northern NSW. (AAP: Dave Hunt)
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