Hundreds of residents across inland New South Wales (NSW) are under evacuation orders as swollen rivers and catchments inundate towns in southern and central western NSW.
With 104 emergency warnings current across the state, authorities have told residents in parts of Forbes, Wagga Wagga and Gunnedah to evacuate from low-lying areas as major flooding is set to hit the Murrumbidgee, Namoi and Lachlan rivers.
Severe flooding is expected in the central western town of Forbes on Thursday and Friday as the community reels from an inundation weeks ago.
“It is a long list of rivers in flood in NSW, with our greatest concern at the moment being for the Lachlan River at Forbes,” Ashley Sullivan from the State Emergency Service told ABC TV on Thursday.
“We are expecting major flooding in the next couple of days, equivalent to probably the 1952 flooding in that area.
“Although we have seen flooding in Forbes in recent months, this flooding will be higher than what we have seen in any of those floods, so we are asking the community to pay particular attention to our current warnings,” he said.
A number of other inland catchments are dealing with major flooding, including along the Namoi River in the agricultural town of Gunnedah.
The towns of Tumut, Gundagai, Wagga Wagga, Hay and Cootamundra are also inundated as the Murrumbidgee River rises to major flood levels.
Flooding of the Murrumbidgee is being exacerbated by spills from the Burrinjuck Dam combined with inflows from the Tumut River and other tributaries, pushing peaks above 1989 flood levels at Gundagai.
Communities in Lightning Ridge and Walgett have also been isolated by flooding of the Barwon and Darling river systems, with catchments likely to remain flooded for months.
Flooding is also a risk at Albury, with the Murray River rising to moderate flood levels on Thursday as major flooding in the border towns of Echuca and Moama continues into next week.
The SES has issued several watch and act warnings for low-lying areas of the town and nearby Corowa.
The flooding comes after the Murray-Darling Basin Authority increased releases of water from Hume Dam in response to continued rain, and the main road and only access into the area is closed.
Combined with inflows from the Kiewa River downstream of the dam, the Murray River is expected to approach or exceed the major flood level in the city - one of the state’s largest regional centres.
The SES has received 431 calls for assistance and conducted 15 flood rescues in the past 24 hours.
