News 
 National News 
 National 
 General 
 Two plucked from flood waters in NSW 

Two plucked from flood waters in NSW

03 Feb, 2012 08:27 AM

The State Emergency Service has rescued two people from their homes in Moree early this morning after they became overwhelmed by rising flood waters.

The first, a man, was plucked from the rooftop of his house, 15 kilometres east of Moree.

The second, a woman in north Moree, was able to be driven out by SES volunteers.

Evacuation warnings from the SES

SES incident controller James McTavish said the Mehi River was currently at its peak of about 10.65 metres, as of 9.30am.

He said there was still a significant amount of water to come from upstream and Moree's main street was expected to flood.

"The 10.65 metres is above the 1976 flood level of 10.59 but below the 1955 level of 10.82. It's not a record but it's still a significant flood," he said.

Evacuation orders are current for Pallamallawa, a township of 600 people to the east of Moree and Biniguy, also to the east.

The bridge at Gravesend, 50 kilometres east of Moree. Photo: via Twitter.

Four hundred people have registered at the PCYC in south Moree which is being used as an evacuation centre.

Mr McTavish expects "hundreds of homes" have been inundated by flood water.

"We're currently doing an assessment on homes but we expect it to be in the hundreds rather than dozens," he said.

"We're expecting more registrations. A number of people have elected to stay but are realising this is worse than they thought."

Members of the Australian Defence Force arrived in Moree last night on a Hercules C130 with camp beds and stretchers for those displaced by the flood.

It is estimated 10,500 people are isolated across NSW including those areas with current evacuation orders and warnings and areas on the north east coast.

More than 120 SES volunteers are on the ground and 30 Rural Fire Service members.

Premier Barry O'Farrell is on the ground in Moree.

Premier Barry O'Farrell receiving a briefing from SES Commissioner Murray Kear. Photo: via Twitter.

Moree Plains Shire Council mayor Katrina Humphries said residents woke to a red sky this morning.

"We've done everything we can and people are just wandering around. They're just watching and waiting," she told ABC radio.

"There are thousands and thousands and thousands of sandbags."

Print
Increase Text Size
Decrease Text Size

comments


No comments yet. Be the first to comment below.

post a comment


Screen name  *
Email address  *
Remember me?
Comment  *
 
We invite and encourage our readers to post comments. Comments are moderated and will appear as soon as our editor has approved them. When posting comments you agree to be bound by our Terms and Conditions.
Downtown Moree from the air. Picture: Barry O’Farrell/@barryofarrell (via Twitter)
Downtown Moree from the air. Picture: Barry O’Farrell/@barryofarrell (via Twitter)
Truck going down Gwydir Street, Moree.
Truck going down Gwydir Street, Moree.
Related Coverage
ARTICLES
MULTIMEDIA
03 February, 2012

Most popular articles


Black Town City Council 010512
 
click here
 
Jeep Raffle 170512
 
Homeshow 180512
 
Design an ad 070512
 
House Promo click here to win


Blacktown Sun







Weather brought to you by:

Weatherzone

Classifieds

Front Page

Current Issue
Privacy Policy | Conditions of Use | Advertising Terms | Copyright © 2012. Fairfax Media.
 SEND...
 SAVE...
 SHARE...