Flood-hit communities on the NSW north coast have been hit by a second major disaster in as many months.
Byron Bay has been submerged under a metre of water after the popular tourist town received 300mm of rain in less than 24 hours
The main road in and out of town was also inundated, despite residents being given no warnings to evacuate overnight.
Byron Bay mayor Michael Lyon described thexjmtzyw scenes as “unprecedented”.
“It’s devastating after what we’ve just been through a month ago. It’s hitting different parts of the shire,” Mr Lyon told Sydney’s 2GB radio.
In flood-hit Lismore, waters topped the 10.6 metre levee close to midday on Wednesday.
The Northern Rivers city was still recovering after being battered by a similar disaster just one month ago.
Confusion and frustration with warning systems emerged after evacuation orders were repealed for some residents the previous night.
While most residents were able to get to safety, police searched throughout Wednesday for a 55-year-old Nowra woman, believed to be missing in the floodwaters south of Lismore.
Emergency services received reports on Tuesday night she had become trapped in her vehicle by floodwaters, but a late night search and rescue effort was unable to locate her.
That afternoon saw 16 evacuation orders in place, affecting over 26,000 people, and five evacuation warnings applying to 12,000 people in the Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast.
At that time water levels in Lismore’s Wilsons River was heading for a predicted peak of 12 metres.
Major flooding was recorded across several waterways in the state’s north, including the Richmond and Clarence rivers – and further south around Coffs Harbour in the Bellinger and Orara rivers.
The NSW SES responded to more than 1300 jobs, including 69 flood rescues.
“To put this into some form of perspective, before the record flood that we saw through Lismore just one month ago the prior record for the Wilsons River was 12.17 metres,” NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said.
“So, if not for that peak just one month ago, this in and of itself would be a record flood for the city of Lismore and that area.”
Authorities warned of a “rapidly changing’ situation as the weather system tracked south, affecting communities on the mid north coast.
“Communities in those areas are already stressed and worried from the previous flooding and the SES has moved additional resources into those locations to support hose communities,” NSW SES Acting Commissioner Daniel Austin said.
“We still have a number of days to go before we come out the end of this and we will continue to issue warnings as the situation changes across the state.”
Severe weather warnings stretched several hundred kilometres along the east coast, with the southerly moving system expected to impact Sydney and the south coast towards the end of the week.
