A NSW central west town is preparing to evacuate as flooding from days of heavy rain raises rivers across the state, reports AAP.
Of prime concern to authorities is the swollen Lachlan River, with more than 8,000 people in the town of Forbes in its path.
The Bureau of Meteorology forecast major flooding in the town from Tuesday, with the river expected to peak on Wednesday morning at a level similar to or higher than the September 2016 floods.
The NSW SES deputy zone commander, Barry Griffiths, says an evacuation order for low-lying areas in Forbes is likely to be issued on Tuesday morning.
He says the river is expected to peak overnight but an evacuation order will be issued earlier than that “to try and give the community as much time as they can to evacuate safely and calmly”.
SES and Rural Fire Service volunteers are door-knocking and delivering about 10,000 sandbags to residents as well as helping prepare properties.
Griffiths told Nine’s Today show on Tuesday morning:
We are confident that the actions we are taking at the moment are suitable enough for the predicted flood event, but it is going to be a bit of a waiting game over the next 24 hours. We need to see what the water actually does.
Moderate flooding has occurred upstream at Cowra, and major flooding occurred at Nanami on Monday night, with the river peaking at more than 12.4m.
The river there reached levels higher than in September 2016 but lower than in August 1990.
It was too early to tell how high the river will rise when those floodwaters reach Forbes, the BOM said on Monday, but the SES has warned locals in up to 800 homes to prepare to leave before they hit the town.
Downstream from Forbes, major flooding is also expected at Cottons Weir and Jemalong.
BOM hydrologist Justin Robinson said:
One fortunate thing about the floods in western NSW is that they’re a slow moving, evolving event.
Hopefully we’ll be able to provide them adequate warning and leave time for them to prepare ahead of the floods actually arriving and impacting their personal properties and communities.
St Andrews Church in Forbes has been set up as an evacuation centre as residents are urged to be on high alert for an SES evacuation text message.
The Macquarie, Paroo, Macintyre, Belubula, and Snowy rivers have also flooded, after parts of the state copped a month’s worth of rain in days.
Yesterday meteorologist Agata Imielska said:
Some of those locations (received) even two to three times what you would get in November.
Catchments are wet, dams are full. This is exactly what we’ve been talking about for this season, with the elevated flood risk.
It is a really important time to really be keeping very close eye on any flood warnings.