NSW: Access restored to 1,000 flood victims - SES

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-2009
NSW: Access restored to 1,000 flood victims - SES

SYDNEY, April 6 AAP - Only 11 families remain isolated by flood waters on the NSW mid-coast
after storms dumped more than 500mm of rain over the area in two days last week.

More than 1,000 people were still cut off on Sunday after the freak rainfall that led
to declarations of natural disaster zones in Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, the Clarence Valley
and Nambucca.

But receding flood waters and repairs to roads leading to the Darkwood and Thora communities,
along the Bellinger River, mean access to the world beyond was restored by Sunday evening.

A State Emergency Service spokesman said less than a dozen families were still cut off.

"The flood waters have dropped quite a lot over the past 12 hours," the spokesman told AAP.

Eight families at Taylors Arm, on the Nambucca River, will be cut off for another one
or two days until a landslide has been cleared from an access road.

Three families at Bellbrook, on the upper Macleay River, will be stranded until waters
recede from low-lying bridges.

At the peak of the floods last week, 4,000 people were cut off by floods.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) website listed all rivers on the mid-north coast as
below flood levels on Monday.

A chance of showers is predicted for the region until Friday.

The Insurance Council of Australia says $27 million worth of claims have already been
lodged by affected residents and business owners.

AAP vpm/wjf/maur

KEYWORD: RAIN NSW

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