Residents in parts of northern NSW have been told to evacuate and a woman is missing amid rising floodwaters after an icy deluge hit the state.
Heavy rain, floods and unprecedented snow have also cut power to tens of thousands of households across NSW, prompting a warning from Telstra that triple-zero access might be unavailable.
“We’re working to get everything back online as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience, we’ll provide another update before 11.15am on August 5,” the telco said in an alert on its website on Monday.
Mobile, NBN, ADSL and landline connections are all affected.
On Sunday night, those living in low-lying parts of Raymond Terrace in the Hunter, and Gunnedah in north-central NSW were urged to evacuate.
”Inundation is occurring and evacuation routes will be closed due to floodwaters,” one SES alert read.
It comes after wild weather hammered northern NSW at the weekend, with floods and snowstorms stranding cars and cutting electricity.
On Monday, a search resumed for a woman missing in floodwaters at Rothbury, about 16 kilometres north of Cessnock. Emergency workers were called after reports a Mini car was stranded due to the floods.
The driver, a 27-year-old woman, managed to get out but the passenger was dragged away with the strong current. The 26-year-old Chinese woman, who was in Australia on a work visa and is believed to be the driver’s cousin, remains missing almost two days later.
“We’ve had a number of areas in the Hunter Valley that have been prone to evacuation orders and warnings in relation to floodwaters,” Hunter Valley police superintendent Steve Laksa said.
“I’d just ask the community to take heed of those warnings and do not enter any waterway.”
NSW State Emergency Service crews responding to the emergency saved a 40-year-old man who was stuck in a nearby tree due to floodwater.
Rescuers followed the man into the water after he was swept from the tree. They pulled him to shore and he was taken to hospital.
The NSW SES responded to more than 3600 calls for assistance to 2092 incidents, including 25 flood rescues, at the weekend.
On Monday morning, more than 50 warnings remained current for residents across the NSW mid-north coast, Upper Hunter and New England regions.
SES Northern Zone Deputy Commander Superintendent Ian Robinson said evacuation orders for parts of Raymond Terrace would likely be current “for a while yet”, as parts of the Hunter River continued to rise upstream.
“We’ve got a bit of a focal point up around the Singleton area … we’ve issued three prepare-to-evacuate warnings this morning, very early,” he told ABC Newcastle Breakfast.
“We’re expecting the flood water there to reach around about 12.5 metres, which is quite significant … that is under the major flood level, but it’s certainly over the minor and into the moderate.”
Minor flood warnings were also current on Monday for the Manning, Gloucester, Macleay, Severn, Paterson, Williams, and Gwydir Rivers.
At least 26 schools are closed across NSW, with children told to stay home on Monday.
“If a school is closed, it will not be offering supervision to students,” the NSW Department of Education said on Sunday, noting there would be learning-from-home resources for students.
The full list of affected schools is on the department’s website.
There were also high winds and storms on the other side of the country in Western Australia at the weekend.
Almost 20,000 homes were without power in Perth on Sunday as storms swept through the city.
-with AAP
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