As roiling thunderstorms again cross eastern and inland New South Wales (NSW), Premier Dominic Perrottet will seek more federal funding to repair flood-damaged roads, and regional communities will attempt to salvage what’s left after weeks of devastating rain.
The premier said damage wrought by the inundation was heartbreaking to see in the border towns of Deniliquin and Moama, where the Murray River is expected to continue to flood through next week.
The trip is part of a week-long tour of flood-hit NSW regions, which on Monday included a visit to Moree, where much of the town remains under evacuation orders after the Mehi River reached major flood levels over the weekend.
Repairing roads and infrastructure in the wake of natural disasters was the role of federal, state and local governments, who needed to work together, Perrottet said.
“There’s going to be a lot of work that’s going to have to be put into fixing up roads right across the state,” he said.
“It’s a long journey, but we’ve just got to be there every step of the way.”
The premier will meet with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday to discuss the additional repair funding.
A number of major roads and highways are closed across NSW due to flooding, straining farmers already facing crop losses.
“Some of our farmers were going to be facing a bumper harvest this year, and that’s been taken away,” Deputy Premier Paul Toole said on Wednesday.
“We probably won’t know the full extent of it until the waters do recede, to actually see whether or not farmers can get onto their paddocks.”
Thunderstorms are forecast for the eastern half of NSW through to the Queensland border on Thursday, Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Gabrielle Woodhouse told AAP.
Areas likely to be hit by storms include the Hunter and the North Coast, while showers will continue across parts of inland NSW, including the Western Slopes.
Next week, a new system will bring rain, widespread showers and storms from Sunday, continuing on Monday and Tuesday.
“It does seem likely that we'll see widespread showers and storms,” Woodhouse said.
“As everything is so wet, it’s not going to take much for some of those rivers to respond and cause flooding across those inland catchments.”
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for the South Coast on Wednesday night as convergent winds triggered dangerous cells around Eden and Merimbula.
The storms were forecast to bring heavy rainfall, flash flooding and damaging winds to the warning area on Wednesday evening.
Some 27 flood warnings remain in place across NSW, including nine for major flooding at the Namoi, Gwydir, Mehi, Macquarie, Bogan, Lachlan, Murrumbidgee, Barwon, Darling and Snowy rivers.
