The damage in Eugowra on Tuesday.Credit:AAP
“Some houses have no walls left. Houses that used to be at No. 2 are now at No. 14.” The State Emergency Service has begun its assessment of how many are likely to still be habitable.
After the Northern Rivers catastrophe earlier this year,the NSW government announced an $800 million voluntary buy-back scheme in late October. However,Perrottet stopped short of promising the same for residents of Eugowra,Forbes and other hard-hit towns.
“Particularly at this time,when the catchments are full,the rivers are full,the ground is wet ... it doesn’t take much rainfall for flash flooding to occur.
“So we can’t protect against that in every single occasion. What we can do is focus on projects in those areas that reduce flooding,and reduce danger to people’s lives. That’s why I’ve said when it comes to Hawkesbury-Nepean,and families in Western Sydney,our approach in that area is to raise the Warragamba Dam wall.
Hundreds of gigalitres are released from Wyangala Dam,affecting the Lachlan Valley district.Credit:Nick Moir
In the Central West,“we believe we should be raising Wyangala Dam,and we’re doing the work on that”. Wyangala Dam’s release rate reached 230 gigalitres a day on Monday,more than a third of the volume of Sydney Harbour.
The Insurance Council of Australia reiterated its call for greater investment in mitigation measures such as levees,floodways,household retrofitting,and “extreme cases” buybacks. It also wants planning approvals to consider resilience to extreme weather.
As the flooding crisis continued on Tuesday,the SES had 25 emergency orders in place by afternoon,including in Condobolin and Forbes,where the Lachlan River crossed the major flood level. Residents of Maude,on the Murrumbidgee,were told it was too late to leave as water rushed down from Hay.
Loading
Major flood warnings were also issued for Gunnedah and Wee Waa. The NSW government has called on New Zealand,Singapore and the United States to send emergency workers to help. Perrottet said another 100 Australian Defence Force troops were also being deployed to help with rescue and recovery.
The floods come after months of rain across inland NSW,which left the ground unable to soak up more water,and particularly heavy falls at the weekend. Meteorologist Helen Kirkup said the bureau was now mostly concerned about a cold snap that was set to hit the areas already affected by flooding over the next 24 hours. More rain was expected on the weekend.
With Tom Rabe and Megan Gorrey