AccuWeather.com reports Australian towns in New South Wales have been declared natural disaster zones following a series of heavy thunderstorms that dumped heavy rainfall over the past couple of days.
Heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours has isolated towns along the Bellinger River and caused flooding in the area surrounding Coffs Harbour. It is the second time in less than two months that these areas have been affected and declared disaster areas.
These storms have saturated the ground and have begun to swell rivers to flood height. Showers and thunderstorms forecast for today across the region will continue to create problems. Anyone around the region will need to watch for flash flooding. As of early Wednesday morning EDT, flood watches were in effect for all of the New South Wales coastal rivers from the Queensland border to the Manning Valley.
Over the past 48 hours, about 10-20 cm of rain has fallen across a large swath of New South Wales. In addition to the flooding, damaging surf conditions are lashing out on the beaches.
Waves in some places exceed five meters, which is enough to close most of the beaches in the area. Significant beach erosion on the Midnorth Coast, Hunter and Sydney coasts are expected before waves gradually decrease into tonight and on Thursday.
To learn more or discuss with a forecaster, please contact:
Justin Roberti
Roberti@AccuWeather.com
Or call our 24-hour press hotline:
814-235-8710
