Major flooding is set to worsen in parts of the Northern Rivers and mid-north coast, as the low pressure system smashing the east coast moves further south.
The Richmond, Clarence and Bellinger Rivers are already under major flood warnings with another 30 to 50mm of widespread rainfall forecast to hit the region.
Thunderstorms expected at Barrington Tops could bring up to 80mm of rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
There are currently 20 evacuation orders in place across the state affecting 27,000 people.
Evacuation orders were issued around 5.30pm on Wednesday evening for low-lying properties east of Grafton on the state’s mid-north coast.
Ulmarra, Southgate, Brushgrove and Cowper along the Clarence River were all ordered to get out before 10pm.
High-risk properties in North Macksville, south of Coffs Harbour, also received an immediate evacuation notice around 6:30pm.
As floodwaters begin to seep down from Lismore, the SES is closely monitoring the neighbouring towns of Coraki and Woodburn.
The Willson’s River peaked at 11.4m overnight in Lismore, as the search continues for a 55-year-old woman believed to be missing in floodwaters south of the northern NSW city.
Nowra aged care nurse Anita Brakel became tapped in her white Holden Captiva wagon around 9.50pm on Tuesday in Monaltrie, Lismore.
Police searched the area for several hours on Wednesday and will continue again on Thursday morning.
Rain has begun to ease above Lismore and floodwaters are expected to begin to subside, with potential to drop back below major flood levels by this afternoon.
Before record floods hit the region earlier this month bringing 14.37m of water, the flood peak for the Wilsons River was 12.17m.
When floodwaters overtopped the levee on Wednesday morning, the town’s flood sirens did not sound and a faulty water level gauge caused problems due to flood damage earlier this month.
It was the tipping point for many residents who were prematurely given the all clear to return home on Tuesday evening before being abruptly woken to fresh evacuation orders in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg spoke with Channel 7’s Sunrise on Thursday ahead of a long day of waiting for floodwaters to drop before the clean up begins.
“It’s really hard to explain all the emotions you go through but certainly anger is one of them,” he said.
NSW SES Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan firmly defended the agency’s decision to call off the evacuation orders before reinstating warnings.
“The information provided to the SES and also in working with our partners and the locals there, a decision was made to life the evacuation order – there was a sound decision,” she told the ABC on Thursday.
The NSW SES has conducted 55 flood rescues in the past 24 hours and responded to more than 500 requests for assistance since Monday morning.
In Byron Bay, floodwaters started to subside on Wednesday afternoon and the community has begun the massive clean-up operation.
Ballina recorded a whopping 900mm of rain in the last week and the popular tourist destination copped 330mm on Wednesday alone.
“It’s the first time that Byron has been affected like this,” Byron Shire Mayor, Michael Lyon told Sunrise.
NSW SES never issued an evacuation order for either of the northern NSW towns which saw floodwaters sweep through major streets.
“It was disappointing that it wasn’t predicted and certainly for a lot of xjmtzywpeople waking up in the early hours to floodwater”.
Damaging winds are forecast for the region and residents are warned that saturated soils may cause falling trees and landslips in the next 24 hours.
The weather system is expected to move further south impacting Sydney and the south coast towards the end of the week.
Abnormally high tides and damaging surf are also forecast for most of east coast NSW from Kempsey on the Mid-North Coast down past Eden on the Victorian border.
For Sydney, wet conditions are expected throughout Thursday and into Friday with showers and possible thunderstorms forecast to bring at least 30mm of rain before the weekend.
