In the 64th day of the state’s flood crisis, emergency services are stretched to the limit in one of the largest operations in state history.
As rescue helicopters, military personnel and international emergency teams work in flood zones – and people in the west central town of Forbes brace for their second flood in a fortnight – Chaplain State Emergency Serviceman Steve Hall said Eugowra had been decimated.
Some houses in Eugowra were washed off their foundations after a flash flood hit the small town on Monday. Credit: Rhett Wyman
“Everything they love has been swept away in a wall of water,” he said.
People in parts of the north-west town of Gunnedah have been told to evacuate as the area is hit by heavy flooding. The Namoi River, which runs north of the city, is expected to reach its current height of 8.2 meters.
In the 24 hours to Wednesday morning, the SES responded to 329 calls for help and carried out 17 flood rescues.
SES Chief Superintendent Dallas Burns said floodwaters in Forbes were slowly rising with water spreading across the city.
Flash floods in Eugowra have destroyed houses in the town. Credit: Rhett Wyman
“We expect this peak and this large flood in Forbes to last for several days,” he said, adding that flooding will continue in some valleys and river basins for several months.
Fourteen people were rescued in Forbes around 8pm on Tuesday night after the Plainsman Motel was flooded. A rescue helicopter rescued an elderly couple, their daughter and two small dogs from a home in Forbes that was threatened by rising waters around 10 p.m.
About 1,000 people and up to 600 homes and businesses are affected by evacuation orders in the city.
Crews have been knocking on doors and sandbagging after 120mm of rain fell in a matter of hours on Monday, causing ferocious flooding and forcing the Wyangala Dam to spill into the Lachlan River.
Torrential rain doubled the height of Mandagery Creek in Eugowra, east of Forbes, in the early hours of Monday, devastating the town of 800 people.
AAP