Bracing for more pain from floods

---

NSW is bracing for a battering as the monsoonal rainfall which has been hammering Queensland heads south.

Two Black Hawk helicopters have joined the flood-relief operations and some residents in the coastal towns of Gladstone and Coffs Harbour have been ordered to begin preparations for evacuation.

NSW State Emergency Service spokeswoman Stephanie Heard said interstate holidaymakers were most at risk in the flood-affected areas. The SES has had about 800 calls for help since Monday and performed 40 flood rescues, including five yesterday.

“Definitely a concern for us is that there is a lot of people there that aren’t used to these creeks or the roads,” she said.

It is unknown how many South Australians have been affected by the floods, which hit popular tourists spots at the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast on Wednesday and were now inundating holidaymakers in northern NSW.

Dick and Helen Batterson said they were busy putting up sandbags at their Smithtown home, which sits beside the swollen Macleay River.

“I’ve got about 20 of these, so let’s hope they do the job,” said Mr Batterson, who’s lived in the flood-prone region for 40-years.

“Flooding’s been happening here too often recently.”

Flooding has already cut in half the small town of Bellingen in northern NSW for the second time in three days, with the town’s bridge completely submerged. Upstream of Bellingen, at Darkwood, hundreds of people remain isolated, with the SES carrying out supply runs in the area.

While the torrential downpours are a disaster for flooded towns, there is hope the rains will flush South Australian sections of the River Murray.

So far the majority of the rain has fallen on the eastern side of the dividing range, meaning most flows will head out to sea.

If much of the expected deluge falls on the western side of the Great Dividing Range it will be collected in the Murray-Darling Basin – possibly leading to flows in SA.

Wilderness Society campaign manager Peter Owen said after so many years of drought, the river system would benefit greatly from any extra flows to SA.

“Without a doubt it is good for the river when the system gets flushed,” he said.

“There had been a drought for so long, so having a few years where the system is being replenished is a good thing.”