Moree battling through 'devastating' flooding with more water forecast to come

The community of Moree has pulled together to weather the storm, but the next 24 hours are unknown with more rain expected.

Moree local Wayne Tighe has seen four floods in his town, and is currently living through the fifth. Credit: Sascha Estens

Wayne Tighe has had to go through the devastation of four floods, and now he’s battling the fifth he's seen in his lifetime.

The Moree resident lives on Edrald St, and speaks to NITV as he wheels his bike through the flood waters.

“This our second flood in the last couple of years, and it’s pretty devastating,” he said.

Much of the town is already inundated, with 20 evacuation orders still in place.

Now, with more rain expected, all are on the Mehi river.

“What we’re worrying about the most is that we don’t know what’s gonna happen in the next 24 hours, there’s more water coming,” said Mr Tighe.

Wayne Tighe pushes his bike through the floodwaters of his hometown. Credit: Sascha Estens

On Sunday the Mehi peaked at 10.50 metres, now Mr Tighe said they’re sitting at 10.49metres - which is “pretty big” for the area.

“They're predicting 10.69 which is another 20cm on what we've got at the moment, so I don’t know what time that’ll be… we’ll wait and see,” he said.

Mr Tighe said the town has pulled together to brave the weather.

“The last 24 hours have been really good… the community has pulled together and everyone’s been fantastic in the community… the SES has been really good,” he said.

There are multiple evacuation orders in place for Moree, with roads being inundated with water. Credit: Footage supplied by NSW Fire and Rescue

There have been helicopters scouting the area, food and supply drop-offs, and support for those stranded by the floodwaters.

“We’re hoping that it [floodwaters] will start to fall so everybody can just start to help one another and get ready for the next wave that comes through,” Mr Tighe said.

Despite the 20 evacuation orders in place, New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrotet is confident that the town will move into recovery soon.

"We are seeing over 100km of flood waters across a flood plain in Moree that is taking time to come down," he said.

"We’ll move very soon from the emergency response to recovery."

Moree locals wading through the floodwaters. Credit: Sascha Estens

While he’s not sure what’s coming next, Mr Tighe has a lot of trust in his community.

“Moree’s a pretty good town when it comes to floods. We bounce back pretty well,” he said.

“I’m hoping that we can bounce back from this one. I’ve lived through four and everyone’s bounced back really well.

“The council are very good in supporting the community and we’re hoping that state government and the government will keep on giving us that support that we need over the next 6 months.”

Moree is only one of the towns impacted with severe flooding, with concerns continuing for Lismore and Echuca.