Knowles’ daughter said in a statement that her father had urged SES crews to rescue a family with young children nearby and died before they returned.
“He passed as a hero, sending help away to save others,” his daughter said. “We all couldn’t be prouder of you, Dad. We love you.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he was “devastated” to hear of deaths in floodwaters, saying the thoughts of all Australians were with the victims’ families. Police have said they hold “grave fears” for a 49-year-old reported to have walked into floodwaters.
Extensive flooding around Taree.Credit: Harrison Reed / Seascape Media
Severe rainfall of up to 300mm was expected in some areas, adding to the risk of flash floods, with about 9500 properties inundated.
“Unfortunately, the community will have to brace for more bad news,” NSW Premier Chris Minns said on Thursday afternoon. “This is going to be a difficult few days and we’re not out of the woods yet.”
The NSW SES had 149 flood warnings and 37 evacuation warnings in place on Thursday night but some residents said they were not alerted before the floods became dangerous.
James Larking and Kerri-Ann Gimbert said it took one day to lose their home of 14 years in Pampoolah, east of Taree.
As the floodwaters rose on their property, the couple swam, neck-deep, to get their animals to dry land. “We’ve lost everything, but we’re alive, we’re safe, that’s the main thing,” Larking, 54, said.
In past floods, the couple received warning alerts on their phones. This time, they received nothing. “It just seems like we’re forgotten out here,” Gimbert said
Taree, where the Manning River has risen to a level never recorded before, experienced one-third of its annual average rainfall in the past two days and remained extensively flooded.
A ute surrounded by floodwaters at Pampoolah.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Surinder Singh, a resident of nearby Wingham, was in Sydney when he found out his home had been destroyed by unprecedented flooding, after being deemed uninsurable two years ago.
“I’ve lost everything,” Singh said. “I do have some friends and neighbours who aren’t there [anymore], but told me that the house was completely covered.”
In Kempsey, a levee protecting the town’s central business district from the Macleay River was breached early on Thursday. Evacuation orders were in place for the town’s central and eastern areas.
Kempsey Mayor Kinne Ring posted this image of flooding on social media yesterday.Credit: Facebook
“We haven’t had any loss of power or telecommunications, but people [are] running out of food and medicine, that is something we’re worried about,” said Kempsey Mayor Kinne Ring.
Evacuation warnings were issued to people in lower-lying parts of Port Macquarie, Nambucca Heads, Macksville, Bellingen and Wauchope.
In the Hunter region, people were being evacuated from parts of Dungog and Paterson. The NSW SES said its teams had made more than 600 flood rescues. The heaviest rainfall was expected in Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Taree, Woolgoolga, Sawtell and Dorrigo.
Simon Basile, 58, was taking his dogs for their daily walk on One Mile Beach near Forster when his friend spotted a dead cow in the surf about 300 metres from the shore.
“You could tell [it was dead], it was just bobbing in the ocean on the way in, the waves were pushing it in,” he said.
Basile took a photo of the cow’s tag to post on Facebook, hoping its owner would see the post. “A lot of the farmers don’t know what stock they have and what’s been lost,” he said.
Robyn Doust and her dog Gypsy being rescued by members of NSW Fire & Rescue and the SES in Purfleet, near Taree, on Wednesday.Credit: Kate Geraghty
Others replied that they had seen dead cows wash up on Tuncurry Beach and Back Beach.
Heavy rainfall is expected to ease off on the Mid North Coast on Friday, but severe weather will start sweeping across the southern Hunter, Blue Mountains and the Southern Highlands, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Steve Bernasconi said.
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Bernasconi warned record-breaking river levels could peak again over coming days even as rain eases across flood affected areas.
About 2500 emergency services personnel, including 2200 SES workers, are operating in the flooded regions equipped with more than 500 trucks, boats and helicopters. “We are throwing every single thing we’ve got at this incident,” said Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib.
Access to disaster funding has been activated at the state and federal levels. Supermarkets in evacuated towns remained closed while others operated with limited supplies, with the premier thanking customers for not resorting to panic buying.
“It means that we don’t have helicopters having to fly in food as often as normal, and they can be focusing on flood repair efforts,” Minns said.
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