As parts of New South Wales endure heavy rain and flooding – including the Mid North Coast and Hunter regions which have been hardest hit – many truckies remain stranded, with key freight routes cut off.
Record flooding has left around 50,000 people isolated and tragically, four people have been confirmed to have lost their lives.
In the 24 hours to 5am this morning, the SES has had 1535 incidents reported, including 177 flood rescues.
As of this morning,153 warnings remain in place for areas across the state, including 40 emergency warnings.
Over 2200 NSW SES volunteers have been working with around 200 personnel from other emergency agencies, interstate resources and members of the Australian Defence Force to help the community, as it battles through record flooding.
NSW SES State Duty Commander Assistant Commissioner Colin Malone said the rain will start to ease later today, however the risk from flooding is far from over.
“We may see renewed rises as water from earlier heavy falls makes its way downstream,” Malone said.
“For the last few days our efforts have focused on undertaking life-saving rescues, where more than 600 have been carried out since this flooding began.
“A major focus now will be continuing to support those isolated residents, who may be stuck for several days until flood water recedes.
“We’ll be using boats and helicopters to help isolated people with food and medications and also assist in transporting people to urgent medical appointments or other medical emergencies.”
As at 6.45am this morning, Live Traffic NSW shared an update on major roads closed due to flooding in NSW:
In the Mid North Coast/Hunter regions, the SES says the disaster response is ongoing due to major flooding, with resupply efforts underway for isolated communities.