May 25: " More than 21,000 people were now cut off by floodwaters along Australia's east coast, officials said.Emergency services said they carried out 47 rescues but an elderly man died on Friday after his car was swamped.Clean up operations were getting underway, with the worst of the flooding believed to be over.Hard hit overnight was the northern New South Wales (NSW) town of Maclean, where more than 400 State Emergency personnel helped locals stranded in their homes.The NSW government has declared a natural disaster area covering the Kempsey , Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley areas.NSW Premier Nathan Rees toured Kempsey and nearby flooded areas on the mid- north coast on Sunday to inspect damage and talk to community leaders about recovery efforts."I can assure communities along the coast from the border south that we are ready to help them through this emergency and to return to normal as quickly as possible," Rees said in a statement on Sunday. "The impact of these floods is comparable to the severe floods that swept over such a large area of northern NSW in 2001. Like then, this will be a large- scale recovery effort to help restore the region." Water entered Kempsey overnight after a levee was breached when the Macleay River peaked at 6.9 meters (22.6 feet), with 32 people spending the night" May 21: "SE Qld flooding 'worst since 1974'..Queensland Deputy Premier Paul Lucas says the flood crisis in the state's south-east is the worst since the 1974 floods that devastated many parts of Brisbane.There are still reports of flooding in many parts of the south-east although conditions have eased in Brisbane.The severe weather is now focused on the southern Gold Coast, where a large wave has already turned a car into a sand sculpture.State Emergency Service (SES) crews are still responding to about 1,000 calls for assistance, ranging from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast and west to Ipswich.Mr Lucas has told State Parliament the flooding has been wide-ranging."The rain and subsequent flooding in south-east Queensland are the worst we've seen since 1974," he said.""TEN properties have been evacuated at the mouth of the Tweed River on the New South Wales north coast as heavy rain pelts the area and floodwaters rise. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued warnings of severe weather and moderate to major flooding for people living along the coast between the Nambucca region and the Queensland border. Flood watches are current for the Tweed..." Reference: http://ping.fm/TM4Ez
-- Posted By Breaking News to BN at 5/28/2009 05:55:00 PM
