The cold snap that generated weekend snow flurries in Queensland and heavy falls in the northern tablelands has given way to warnings of “major flooding” in parts of New South Wales.
On Monday, the NSW State Emergency Service warned residents in low-lying areas of the northern tablelands and parts of the Hunter to prepare for flooding.
Major flood emergency warnings were issued along the Namoi River at Gunnedah. The SES also warned the Wee Waa and Narrabri areas that further river rises were possible over the coming days as flood waters moved downstream.
The NSW SES said it had positioned assets into Narrabri in preparation.
In the Hunter, the SES warned moderate flooding was possible along the Hunter river from Monday afternoon.
At 4pm on Monday, an emergency warning for the town of Raymond Terrace advised people to evacuate, while residents in parts of Singleton were on alert to prepare to evacuate.
A severe weather warning was cancelled on Monday, but riverine rises remained a risk as flood water moved downstream.
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The Bureau of Meteorology predicted light showers for Sydney’s annual City2Surf run on Sunday.
The bureau’s Helen Reid said the 20-40cm of snow that blanketed the northern tablelands in NSW, and the light dusting in Queensland’s Granite Belt, had melted away as temperatures rose.
On Monday, the bureau warned a significant swell would likely hammer the NSW mid-north coast until Wednesday.
Since the onset of the severe weather, the SES had received more than 3,600 calls and responded to 2,092 incidents, including 25 flood rescues.
The SES had responded to 11 flood rescues in the last 24 hours, the majority for vehicles being driven into flood waters.
On Monday, the SES deputy commissioner, Debbie Platz, said the area around Gunnedah was of “major concern” because of the high river level.
“We do expect that the river will peak later this evening and then it will stay at a high level, so major flood level, until probably Wednesday,” she told the ABC.
Wild weather hammered northern NSW across the weekend. Floods and snowstorms stranded cars and cut power to homes.
NSW police were still searching for a 26-year-old woman who was swept away into a flooded creek in the Hunter region on Saturday night.
The woman was a passenger in a Mini that was being driven by a 27-year-old woman in Rothbury, near Cessnock, and got stuck in a swollen creek.
A police spokesperson said the search had resumed on Monday and was ongoing.
Police divers were at the scene, assisting local police and other search and rescue teams.
In another incident, SES crews saved a 40-year-old man in the Hunter Valley who was stuck in a tree due to flood water.
The man was swept out of the tree but rescuers followed him into the water and managed to pull him to shore and he was taken to hospital.
– With Australian Associated Press
