A search was under way after a woman was swept into a flooded creek in the Hunter region overnight, as heavy downpours continued to batter large parts of northern New South Wales.
Police said a Mini was being driven by a 27-year-old woman in Rothbury, near Cessnock, when it became stuck in a swollen creek on Old North Road just before 8pm on Saturday.
The woman and a passenger, a woman aged 26, tried to flee the vehicle but were both swept into flood waters.
“Both the driver and the passenger door were opened,” Supt Steve Laksa told reporters on Sunday.
“[The women have] exited the vehicle and at this time they were … swept into the causeway. At this time the driver of the vehicle has managed to come to the surface and also at the time gather her dog that was also accompanying them in the vehicle, and made her way to the bank of the causeway.
“At this time it was reported that the passenger … was not located.”
Police said both women were Chinese nationals who were in Australia on working visas. The missing woman is an engineer who has been working in the country for more than three years.
When emergency services workers arrived, they also found a 40-year-old man stuck in a tree nearby, after he also apparently became trapped in the rising water.
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The man was swept back into the creek during a first attempted rescue by the State Emergency Service; he was pulled from the water after rescuers tracked him along Black Creek.
Police, emergency services and firefighters were to resume a search for the missing woman on Sunday.
Warnings remained in place for several regions – including the Coffs coast, mid-north coast, Upper Hunter and New England regions – after several days of heavy rain. Forecasters were warning that rain would continue and that parts of the Hunter and the north coast would be hit by potentially damaging winds.
Power was cut to at least 27,500 homes in NSW, as snow was recorded in some parts of the state and even across the Queensland border.
Between 50mm and 100mm of rain drenched parts of the mid-north coast and northern Hunter on Saturday.
The SES said it had responded to more than 1,455 calls related to rainfall, thunderstorms and snow.
A new low-pressure system was expected to push up the NSW coast on Sunday with conditions likely to ease by the afternoon, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Residents in parts of Scone and Taree were asked to evacuate amid a major flood threat.
“Most of these damaging wind gusts will be driven by showers and thunderstorms,” said a meteorologist, Miriam Bradbury.
Authorities were warning surfers, fishers, swimmers and boating enthusiasts to stay clear of the coast amid dangerous swells.
The warnings came as unprecedented snowfall was recorded around Armidale and Guyra on Saturday afternoon, creating dangerous road conditions.
The SES responded to more than 100 vehicles stuck in snow on New England Highway, Waterfall Way, Norris Drive and Grafton Road.
More than 1,100 volunteers were responding throughout the state, while helicopters and high-clearance vehicles were deployed to affected areas.
– with Australian Associated Press
