A McDonald’s, a service station and an entire shopping centre are completely under water as heavy rains and dangerous weather continues to hammer the NSW north coast.
Up to 1000 desperate Lismore residents have spent an anxious night stranded on rooftops as flood waters continued to rise overnight.
Many of the regional city’s 43,000 residents were forced out of their homes after more than 700mm of rain fell in just 30 hours by Monday afternoon, with striking images showing the local McDonald’s completely under water.
The city’s main street is completely under water and roads are cut off after the Wilsons River breached its levee early Monday morning.
Michelle Taylor spent all night desperately asking for help online as the water around her home quickly rose and threatened her family of five.
“We need a chopper to get us if possible, please someone help us we are desperate,” she wrote.
Ms Taylor said her family suddenly woke to water filling the home and have been left traumatised by the sudden evacuation.
The family had never experienced such a fast-moving flood and were forced to wait on the roof of their house late into Monday night until emergency services were able to rescue them.
Meanwhile, residents in Ballina have been told by the NSW SES it is too late to leave and are being urged immediately seek higher ground.
The SES is warning people in the area to move away from floodwaters as it is now unsafe to evacuate.
“You should immediately move to the highest safe place now, such as higher ground or inside a sturdy multistorey building to upper levels as high above water levels as possible,” the NSW SES wrote.
“Do not leave your location unless it is safe to do so.”
Ballina was issued evacuation warnings at 2am before the direction changed to “evacuate now” about 6am Tuesday.
Residents were given half-an-hour to pack their things and leave.
Aerial images show the extensive floodwaters impacting Ballina in northern NSW as the region suffers the worst flood crisis in its history.
Ballina locals can evacuate to the Wardell Sport and Recreation Club, The Richmond Rooms or the Cherry Street Sports Club.
NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York is encouraging residents to evacuate when they are told to because water is swiftly flowing.
“It has been a significant thunderstorm that has moved through the Lismore area, through the Northern Rivers, and out coming down the coast, so we are in a very busy planning stage around the Central Coast, which is quite active at the moment, but training on the metropolitan area, and we anticipate heavy thunderstorms and rainfalls down the south coast as well,” Ms York told .
There are nine people missing across the state with Ms York saying volunteers are continuously searching for them.
Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg said up to 1000 residents could still be trapped and awaiting rescue, with up to 400 calls for help yet to be answered.
“400 calls could translate to anywhere up to 1000 people still,” he said.
On Tuesday morning Mr Krieg said the number one priority is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of residents.
“Please continue to listen to emergency services personnel and follow instructions,” he wrote on Facebook.
“As rains ease and the water level falls, don’t attempt to return home or worse still ‘have a look’. Under no circumstances should anyone enter floodwaters.”
“As difficult as today will be, it’s important to remember you are not alone, talk with each other, look after each other and support each other.”
Mr Krieg told he hopes the river will drop below the levee bank height on Tuesday afternoon.
“Everyone who is dry is lending their support to their fellow citizens which is amazing to see,” he said.
“The private gym has opened up and the Catholic Church has opened up. Everyone is chippingxjmtzyw in and lending a hand.”
More towns along the mid-north coast have been told to evacuate as the deluge moves further south including Casino, Maclean, East Bellingen, Lawrence, Broadwater and Cabbage Tree Island.
The weather system is predicted to move even further south on Tuesday and bring heavy rain to Sydney.
Homes in Grafton have already had their homes inundated with water as the town’s levee threatens to break.
Residents worry as the heavy rain continues, mixed with the water flowing down the river from Lismore, they will also lose their homes.
About 200 ADF personnel and emergency services crews and up to 20 civilian boats had been providing assistance to those in trouble across the affected regions.
Rescue efforts continued into the night, although an SES spokesperson said it was important to also take into account the safety of their own personnel.
“They do want to help the community and they genuinely want to get out there but we need to ensure the safety of our volunteers,” the spokesperson said.
Overnight the Bureau of Meteorology issued additional flood warnings for the Macleay, Orara and Nambucca rivers.
A number of roads were closed including the M1 Pacific Motorway which was shut in both directions between Cudgera Creek and Tweed Heads.
Adverse weather conditions hampered aerial rescue efforts throughout Monday with hopes more aircraft could be safely launched to assist those still stranded in the coming days.
