By Renju Jose, Kirsty Needham and Christine Chen
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Flash flooding on Australia’s southeast coast has killed three people and cut off towns, isolating tens of thousands of residents, as officials on Thursday warned more downpours were expected over the next 24 hours.
Major flooding hit several rural towns in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, with most of the Mid North Coast region facing further heavy rainfall through Thursday.
Police said the body of a 63-year-old man was found in a flooded home near Taree, more than 300 km (186 miles) north of Sydney, while another body believed to be that of a missing man aged in his 30s had been discovered in flood waters on the Mid North Coast.
The body of a 60-year-old woman was also found in her vehicle west of Coffs Harbour, police said. The woman had been cautioned against driving through the floods by an officer late on Wednesday, before becoming trapped and calling for help. Emergency services were unable to locate her in time.
Police said they were still searching for a missing man.
“This natural disaster has been terrible for this community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said during a media briefing.
“There’s 140 flood warnings, 50,000 people are in the range where they have been asked to prepare to evacuate and could be isolated, and there’s been 9,500 properties in the direct vicinity. So, we’re far from out of the woods here.”
More than 100 schools were closed on Thursday, while thousands of properties remained without power.
Cundletown in the Mid North Coast has been entirely cut off by floods, said Nicole Sammut, a nurse caring for 67 elderly residents at an aged care home, which is also being used as a shelter by emergency teams.
“I came to work on Tuesday and haven’t left,” Sammut told Reuters.
“We are up on a hill but behind us is all water. We are isolated. I’ve never seen the water this high.”
The Manning River in nearby Taree had exceeded a 100-year-old flood record, emergency authorities said.
Sherinah Peck was evacuated at 2 a.m. on Wednesday from her farmhouse on the river, but her belongings were swept away, with some furniture later washing up on the coast.
As she searched Old Bar beach on Thursday, strewn with debris and dead and lost livestock, for a treasured bicycle that belonged to her late mother, Peck was knocked over by a cow and injured, she said.
“The cow was distressed – a wave came. I had to scramble up the sand,” she told Reuters.
MORE HEAVY RAIN
A slow-moving coastal trough has dumped about four months of rain over the past two days, cutting off entire towns and stranding residents on roofs and the second floors of their homes, as rescuers struggle to access the area by boat or air.
Minns apologised to people who had to wait for several hours for rescue crews, but assured efforts had been ramped up with 2,500 emergency services personnel being deployed.
Around 590 flood rescues had been carried out, dozens of them by helicopter, NSW Police said. The helicopters have also been directing more boat rescues.
“Some significant rescues have been made but unfortunately we have lost a number of lives,” Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said in a press conference.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology forecast that some areas could receive up to 200 mm (8 inches) of rain through Friday, triggering life-threatening flash flooding, before the weather system is expected to weaken and track south towards Sydney.
(Reporting by Renju Jose, Kirsty Needham and Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates, Sonali Paul and Kate Mayberry)
