TRANSCRIPT
VOX: "Yeah mate, yeah. They had the chopper there, and took a couple out. And the boys with boats came and grabbed us and did a great job. Got us here nice and safe. It's nice to back on land."
This man is one of hundreds that have been rescued in northern New South Wales amid heavy rainfall that's caused widespread flash flooding.
Senior forecaster Sarah Scully from the Bureau of Meteorology says the rainfall is the result of a slow-moving trough dumping rain along Australia's east coast.
"Winds will remain fresh to strong along the coast. Likewise, the damaging surf is forecast to contract north and ease later this week. However the wet weather is a very different story. It is likely to persist."
The mid-north coast and Hunter regions have been the worst impacted by the flooding in recent days, with tens of thousands of people isolated and hundreds requiring rescuing.
State Emergency Services Commissioner Michael Wassing says some have involved the use of helicopters to winch stranded residents off their roofs.
"We currently have more than 48,000 people that are currently isolated due to the floodwaters. And we have already had 1,000 incidents and 355 rescues in the last 24 hours."
But the SES is frustrated.
More than 100 warnings are in place, with local residents in the path of flooding urged to head to higher ground and evacuate if they can.
But the SES say the volume of rescues are draining resources away from other important jobs like securing roofs and sandbagging - because people keep making bad decisions.
New South Wales Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison says some roads are just not safe to drive on.
"There are fines for people who drive through flood waters if that is found to be negligent which it is. You know that if you go through 30 centimetres of water, the power of that can move your car off the roadway.”
The wild weather has already claimed the life of at least one person.
Emergency services in Moto, on the New South Wales mid-north coast, found the body of a 63 year old man on Wednesday afternoon.
Premier Chris Minns has told Channel 9 the man was in a house impacted by flooding.
"It's very sad, and when there's these terrible natural disasters, they hit ordinary families in terrible ways. and our heart goes out to obviously that man and his family."
Michael Wassing says all of this means conditions are clearly difficult and dangerous.
"Heavy rainfalls continue to impact many of the river systems. They are super saturated. We are continuing to see localised flash flooding wherever there are intense rainfalls. And we are talking rainfall in the order of 100-150 millimetres in general areas."
Federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain says the Commonwealth is working with the NSW government to provide support in 16 local government areas.
New South Wales Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dibb has urged residents to be patient, and to listen to official advice about what to do. "For those people who are still waiting to be rescued, we know that this takes time. It is an absolute priority to get you there. We ask you to continue being patient. We will make sure that we get to each person. We're doing the best that we can."
As the rain continues, the New South Wales Department of Education says 145 schools are shut across the Mid North Coast, Hunter and Central Coast regions and that parents must keep their kids at home.
In the north coast town of Taree, its centre is inundated, with the flooding record set in the 1929 deluge of 5-point-9 metres, smashed as the Manning River peaks and keeps rising past 6-point-4 meters.
And in Wingham, local resident Dr Alison McIntosh has said supply routes have been cut off - but the supermarket is underwater anyway.
"The supermarket has got water through it. We're completely shut off in terms of access via road and have been since yesterday morning. So there's no way of provisioning even if the supermarket could open. I'm fortunate in that regard but I'm sure there must be a lot of people who are finding it difficult already."
Meanwhile, some are already looking ahead, past the immediate crisis.
The Insurance Council of Australia says it is is closely monitoring the weather, ahead of an expected surge in claims.
Council chief executive Andrew Hall says the flooding could be catastrophic, with significant flooding in similar areas in 2022.
Residents like Holly however have resigned themselves to being without any policy at all.
"In this area it's really not insurable either because of the cost of insurance. But you would never predict something of this amount of volume of water, and velocity as well."
