Tenterfield Shire has been dealing with significant flooding and downed trees as ex-tropical cyclone Alfred made its way over the range on the weekend.
“There’s been flooding and people stuck at various places around the Shire,” Tenterfield Mayor Brownwyn Petrie said.
“We’ve got several bridges completely underwater, and at Timbarra Road the creek’s washed the road away.”
Tenterfield’s eastern edge has borne the brunt of the weather, but Mayor Petrie expects more rain to fall further out as the rain moves westward, but for now Tenterfield Shire Council has been dealing with road closures and down trees that fell in the past few days.
Several roads, including Long Gully Road near and Plains Station Road have water over them.
Fortunately, Mayor Petrie says, there have been no serious injuries or fatalities from the flooding, though there are some communities and residents cut off.
“Plain Station Road cuts off around 152 people,” Mayor Petrie said, “Long Gully cuts off around thirty, forty, and Upper Rocky Road cuts off four.
“The SES is arranging medication drops at the moment.
“There’s one young child who needs medicine and a lady who needs cancer treatment – they may need to get her out.”
State Services have been dealing with the problems on the highways, with a landslip and trees on the Bruxner Highways being cleared by teams from Transport for NSW.
Council has had teams working over the weekend and volunteers manning phones for support and guidance, Mayor Petrie said.
Mayor Petrie has praised the response of the State and Federal Governments, with Mayor Petrie having pushed the inclusion of Tenterfield, Armidale, and Glen Innes Severn LGAs in Disaster Relief Support, saying that Jenny Aitchisson, Senator Tony Sheldon and state Member for Lismore (which includes Tenterfield) Janelle Saffin have been instrumental in extending cover to New England.
A spokesperson for the SES has confirmed that there have been some minor actions for their teams in New England, but not as bad as it could be.
“We’ve actually been pretty fortunate, we’ve seen very minimal totals, less than 10-12mm,” the spokesperson said.
“Some predictions were sitting on 150-200mm of rain, but it seems to have hit the Range and broken up.”
Some of the SES teams that were positioned around the New England Northwest have been moved over the Range to help out in the Lismore and Northern Rivers area, where the need for assistance is much greater.
This does not mean the threat to the New England Northwest has entirely passed, however, with the possibility of further storms this evening and into early tomorrow morning changing the conditions, and urged everyone to keep an eye on the changes.
“Biggest thing, be mindful over the next 24 hours, there’s still that risk of isolated thunderstorms, have the Hazards Near Me app downloaded and up-to-date.”
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