Features
All beaches closed
23rd May 2009
ALL beaches between Sydney and the Queensland Coast have been closed as storms that have battered northern NSW continue to whip up huge seas.
Surf Life Saving NSW and the Australian Lifeguard Service have warned people to stay out of the surf along the NSW coast north of Sydney, saying dangerous beach conditions, winds up to 90km/h, and high tides are a concern.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast swells of six metres, along the NSW coastline.
"Very large ocean waves and swell are occurring along the coast between the Queensland border and Port Hacking, producing very dangerous surf conditions and beach erosion," the organisations said in a statement.
"Waves are particularly large north of Port Macquarie.
"Tides will be higher than normal (on Saturday) and are expected to exceed the highest tide level of the year. Some inundation of low lying areas is likely to occur on the high tide north of Port Macquarie."
The lifesaving bodies also told people to stay away from creek and river mouths, and to avoid near shore boating and fishing.
SES spokesman Greg Slater said coastal areas of NSW could also be subject to storm damage.
"Whilst we've probably seen the worst of the rainfall, there is this low pressure system hovering off the east coast.
"That will be still associated with some quite strong winds, obviously high seas and predicted a high tide later today."
He said storm surges could be associated with the storm system.
"Coastal areas certainly aren't out of the threshold at the moment in terms of wave damage."
Just a month after flooding, towns on the Bellinger River remain isolated.
He said those towns would be isolated about three to four days if no further rain falls in the area.
Floodwaters at Grafton peaked at around 3am (AEST) on Saturday at 7.3 metres, slightly lower than expected.
But Mr Slater said it would take a "significant amount of time" for floodwaters in the north of the state to drop.
"The water that has pooled on to the floodplain, it's notoriously slow to go down," Mr Slater said.
"So we could be talking weeks of inundation for some areas, if not longer."
Country Energy says they have received over 30,000 calls from customers in the past two days.
The Bureau of Meteorology says conditions should improve on Sunday for the north coast region.
NSW Premier Nathan Rees has declared the Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley local government areas disaster zones.
The Bureau of Meteorology has flood warnings in place for the Tweed River, the Richmond Wilsons River, Clarence River, Belinger River, Macleay River, Hastings River, Manning River, Orara River, Brunswick River and the Nambucca River.
How is the wild weather affecting you? Send us photos via email at editorial@finda.com.au.
PHOTOS:
- View a gallery of flood images from across south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.
- For more images of floods around the Sunshine Coast, visit The Sunshine Coast Daily's flood gallery 1 and flood gallery 2.
- See photos of Grafton as evacuation is ordered.
- View flood photos from the first deluge in south-east Queensland.
Read more...
Man found dead in flood waters
Nth NSW in for more wet weather
SES order Lismore flood evacuation
Squalls blackout whole region
Families evacuated, regions cut off
NSW flood information centre set up
Wild seas lash coast
Mass evacuations forced in Tweed
Rain and floods force evacuations
Bligh declares SEQ flood disaster
Northern NSW prepares for floods
More wet weather to come for the Sunshine Coast
Person caught in flood waters
Flood water closes Bruce Highway
Qld, NSW in for a drenching: BOM
Emergency resources and weather updates:
- Check out the Bureau of Meteorology's live radar image.
- New South Wales SES news updates.
- Queensland SES news updates.
- Road closure information can be found on the Road and Traffic Authority, NSW (RTA) website and RACQ website.
- For emergency assistance in floods and storms, contact the SES on 132 500. For life-threatening emergencies call 000.
- The Public Information and Inquiry Centre is open to provide information regarding displaced families, road closures, welfare assistance and all other general inquiries. They can be contacted on 1800 227 228.


















