Floods and storms wreaked havoc across southeast Queensland and northern NSW, including damage to cars and homes. A senior meteorologist from Bureau of Meteorology said that the southern end of the Gold Coast had recorded falls of 368mm in a 24 hour period. NSW Premier Bob Carr declared Lismore, Byron Bay, Tweed Heads and Ballina natural disaster zones. The Insurance Disaster Response Organisation disaster list shows approximately $53.9 million in insured damage in Queensland and approximately $25 million damage in NSW. A man and woman died after their car was swept from a causeway into the Coomera River on the Gold Coast. Another man died following flooding at Byron Bay in northern NSW. A number of people had to be rescued due to the flooded conditions. An elderly woman was rescued from her flooded apartment by Queensland Fire and Rescue Service. A number of motorists were stranded in rising flood waters. A 50 year old man was rescued from a creek in Lismore by a front end loader. In south-east Queensland, the SES said most suburbs on the Gold Coast were flooded. SES Gold Coast co-ordinator said the response operations wound up on Saturday, with volunteers attending 894 call-outs during the week to widespread damage. SES volunteers attended 600 call outs in the Richmond Tweed area. The wet and wild conditions resulted in a number of motor vehicle accidents and flooded road conditions. Twenty-three traffic accidents, nine involving injuries, were reported in south-east Queensland by 3pm on 29 June. The RACQ received hundreds of callouts from motorists. A rockslide blocked the Cunningham Highway in both directions at Cunningham’s Gap. There were flood warnings for major rivers from mid-north NSW to southern Queensland. With the Wilson River expected to peak, as a precaution, approximately three thousand residents were told to evacuate their homes in the northern NSW town of Lismore. Flood waters peaked at 10.2m. More than 75 residents at a nursing home in Benora on the Queensland border were evacuated. A Counter Disaster and Rescue Services spokeswoman said 67 people were evacuated from their homes on the Gold Coast, while many apartment basement car parks were flooded. Thousands of people in northern NSW remained stranded by the flood waters days after the storms, and were reliant on food and medical drops by boat or helicopter. Many Gold Coast businesses were affected by the storms. Flooding shut down the Gold Coast Airport at Coolangatta and subsequent flight delays were felt in Sydney. The major Gold Coast shopping centre Pacific Fair was closed down. The extreme weather prompted Warner Village Theme Parks to close all four of its parks, including Movie World and Sea World, for the first time in its history. Dream World was also closed. Many businesses were flooded and suffered damages. More than 26000 residents in south-east Queensland were left without power due to fallen powerlines. |