POLICE have closed off access to Grafton as residents begin evacuating the city.
These photos of the boatshed mean nothing until you know that, usually the single high story dwelling (the one with the blue roof) usually has around two meters between it and the river, and the first photo, that is the top of the second storey....
from the daily exmainer
As rain continues to fall police road blocks are vetting anyone entering the city, only allowing bona fide residents access to their homes.
Around 2pm the SES made an order for residents in Grafton and South Grafton to get out ASAP as the Clarence River threatened to overtop levee banks.
The SES predicted the Clarence River will peak at 7.8m by midnight.
This is higher than the 2001 flood that came within 100mm of breaking into the city.
Earlier in the day the SES ordered residents of Ulmarra and Brushgrove to leave their homes, putting into practice personal and business evacuation plans.
Evacuees were told to go to Ballina rather than Grafton.
The Premier of NSW, Nathan Rees, has declared the Northern Rivers area, including the Clarence Valley a natural disaster area.
Mr Rees said on Friday his government was ready to provide for the communities, after the region was hit with torrential rain and strong winds.
“The declaration will provide for a range of assistance to cover personal hardship and distress as well as funding for those who have suffered property damage, including residents, councils, business owners and primary producers,” he said.
RESIDENTS in the northern New South Wales towns of Grafton and Kempsey have been ordered to evacuate as floodwaters continue to rise in the region.
The State Emergency Service says floodwaters at Grafton peaked at around 3am AEST this morning at 7.3 metres, slightly lower than expected.
But floodwaters in Kempsey are expected to reach 6.9 metres by midday, breaching the town's levee.
Residents of Yamba and Maclean, north of Grafton, may also be asked to leave.
SES spokesman David Webber says there have been no reports of floodwaters topping the levee at the Clarence River in Grafton.
But he has told the ABC that floodwaters in Grafton are expected to remain above major flood level over the weekend.
Hundreds of people from Grafton have already been evacuated south to Coffs Harbour with more buses en route.
The flooding has interrupted electricity supply to thousands of homes with Country Energy reporting 30 thousand calls from customers in the past two days.
Spokesman Andrew Latta says the high water levels are making repairs difficult and around six-thousand 500 customers remain without power.
Wild weather
Large swathes of northern NSW were declared disaster areas on Friday after more torrential rain and winds lifted roofs off buildings, brought down trees and powerlines, and isolated major towns.
North of the border, coastal towns battened down for more wild weather after authorities warned of abnormally high tides and wind gusts up to 100km/h this weekend.
Inspecting flood damage on Friday, NSW Premier Nathan Rees declared the Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley local government areas disaster zones.
Lismore has been the worst affected, with 5,000 residents told to evacuate on Friday morning.
But although major roads remain underwater, and trees and powerlines have been brought down, fears the Wilsons River levee would overflow appear to have dissipated.
The Bureau of Meteorology had issued a flood warning for the Clarence River near Grafton, which was expected to peak at almost eight metres by midnight (AEST) Friday.
The SES said evacuation orders had been issued for Grafton and nearby Ulmarra and Bushgrove, affecting 9,200 residents.
"We are encouraging self-evacuation, but if people are able to go to friends and family on higher ground, that's good," Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson said.
About 2,000 residents west of Coffs Harbour have also been isolated by floodwaters, with Bellingen, Darkwood and Thora cut off for the third time this year.
Clean up begins
Southeast Queensland communities mopping up after this week's storms are bracing for more wild weather.
A deep low pressure trough that inundated northern NSW is expected to move north on Saturday, prompting the weather bureau to issue a severe weather warning for the southeast coast and Fraser Island.
I'm in Grafton. We got the call to evac yesterday about 2pm. Thankfully Tony got a call from his father that morning telling us that it looked pretty bad and to start moving stuff, so we emptied out the shed in the back and moved it all up to the garage, then we moved all but the big furniture from downstairs to up, just as we finished is when we got the evac so glad we did when we did! We are only around 20 meters from the levy which is good for 8.1 meters, it peaked at 5.30am this morning at 7.6 so close call. Our backyard is low so there wa a stack of water there, a good four inches deep in places and one puddle would have eaily been around 20 meters long as well! We are home now and having everything upstairs was a good excuse to give the floors a major clean. We are leaving everything upstairs 'just in case' but will be bringing back down tomorrow. This afternoon though is Macleans turn to evac so hope everything goes well there.
