Monster 861km storm crushes Australia’s east coast, wreaking havoc for MILLIONS and ruining school holidays – as dozens of cities face a THIRD crippling flood this year
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A massive storm sweeping across Australia’s east coast will damage millions with flood-ravaged cities bracing for another disastrous weather event.
Several flood warnings have been issued across New South Wales, including southeastern Queensland in the firing line.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of heavy rain and thunderstorms will continue to ravage the NSW coast from the Hunter regions to the Northern Rivers overnight Thursday night through Friday.
The appalling conditions will ruin the plans of many families looking to get away for the school holidays starting this weekend in NSW.
Residents of Lismore, devastated by two floods this year, are being told to brace for more wet weather, with a small to moderate flood warning for the city’s Wilsons River.
A massive storm sweeping across Australia’s east coast will wreak havoc on millions of flood-ravaged cities bracing for another catastrophic weather event
‘Depending on the location and the intensity of the rainfall, peaks may be above moderate from Friday and into the weekend’, the BoD warned.
Between 80 and 120mm of rain is expected to fall over parts of the Mid North Coast over a 24-hour period, while severe weather warnings have been issued for the Northern Rivers.
Isolated falls of up to 200mm of rain are also forecast.
In the last 24 hours, 100mm of rain has already ravaged areas from Grafton to Coffs Harbour, while parts of the Mid North Coast have seen 180mm.
SES Commissioner Carlene York said there have already been 49 rescues from this flood and more than 500 calls for help.
A moderate flood warning has also been issued for the Nambucca River at Bowraville on NSW’s Mid North Coast.
Floods have already hit Wee Waa, a town in the state’s northwest, with helicopters delivering supplies.
NSW Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke warned Thursday that it was the start of a “very long season” for flooding.
“We face challenges on multiple fronts with prolonged flooding through western and northwestern NSW, renewed river uprisings in the central west and southern parts of NSW,” she said.
“Now communities in the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and North Coast, which have become flood-tired in recent months, are facing a few uncertain days with deteriorating weather conditions.”
More than 50mm of rain has fallen in parts of NSW since 9am on Thursday.
Ms Cook said she was confident emergency services were equipped to deal with the flooding.
BOM Meteorologist Jane Golding said flash flooding is possible for areas between the Central Coast and the Queensland border.
“We expect areas to see 24-hour totals over 100mm, but we’re going to see some rosy eyes there that’s higher than that, and those rosy eyes are where we’re going to see flash flooding,” Golding said.
That’s enough rain to raise rivers, weigh roads and create dangerous driving conditions. The ground is so saturated with the gusty wind all over NSW that we can expect trees at this point as well.’
Up to 80 flights were canceled at Sydney Airport on Thursday due to the disastrous weather.
The airport has blamed torrential rains and high winds for canceling 45 flights from Sydney between 06:00 and 19:30.
Up to 41 flights to Sydney have also been scrapped in bad news for travelers planning to take advantage of Thursday’s national day of mourning.
“In anticipation of today’s bad weather, domestic airlines announced last night that some services would be affected,” a Sydney Airport spokesman said.
Passengers are advised to check with their airline about the status of their flight.
“Passengers traveling today are advised to arrive two hours before departure for domestic flights and three hours for international flights.”
The airport plans to move to a single runway due to the wet weather and services are expected to return to normal on Thursday afternoon.