With weather conditions starting to ease, Hunter and Newcastle regions have seen heavy rainfall, damaging winds, dangerous surf conditions, road closures and landslips since Friday, March 19.
A one-in-100 year weather event has lashed NSW over the past week, with a severe weather warning remaining for some parts of the Hunter region.
Even though Newcastle weathered the severe storm events relatively well, there were still disruptions to services and facilities across the city.
Newcastle East Landslip
Underneath a prominent Newcastle East home, a landslip caused a road closure along Shortland Esplanade on Sunday, March 21.
The home that overlooks Newcastle’s Cowrie Hole recently had renovations and a modern balcony extension fixed to the hillside.
The landslip occurred underneath this balcony sometime on Saturday night, unbeknown to the homeowners.
Neighbours woke in the early hours of the morning to a street full of fire brigades at the No 1 Ocean Terrace property.
SES and Council workers spent the Sunday clearing tonnes of mud and debris from the road.
Council Closures
The City of Newcastle also closed several facilities with Fort Scratchley, Merewether Surf Life Saving Club, BHP Gallery at the Newcastle Museum, and Civic Park, which had a sewerage leak associated with high rainfall near the amenities.
Transport
RAAF Base Williamtown confirmed that the airfield and Newcastle Airport runway as of 6:10 pm March 21 was suspended due to unfavourable weather forecasts and airfield flooding.
The closure was scheduled until Wednesday, March 24, with the continuation of regular assessments in the hopes to resume flights earlier.
The Central Coast and Newcastle train line had a partial closure on Tuesday, March 23, due to weather conditions and flooding on the tracks.
In both directions, buses replaced trains between Fassifern and Newcastle Interchange due to severe weather causing flooding at Cockle Creek.
Transport NSW advised delaying any non-essential travel as they could not predict when the line would be reopened.
Water and Beaches
Hunter Water issued a statement on March 22, which advised the community to avoid swimming in local beaches and waterways.
“The heavy rainfall has put pressure on our system, with widespread downpours across our area of operations,” the statement read.
“Heavy rain events, like the one we’re experiencing, lead to stormwater and debris infiltrating the wastewater system and can cause overflows; it’s because of this that we’re advising our community to avoid swimming in local beaches and waterways for two days after the heavy rain eases.
“These overflow points are designed to help our system cope with an influx of water and are located at various parts of our network that will have the least impact on our customers, community and the environment.”
Hunter Surf Life Saving (HSLS) moved their focus away from the beaches and towards the floods, with club members deployed across the region and state to help communities in need.
The HSLS issued a statement to Facebook on March 21 thanking the club members for their efforts on behalf of the HSLS Board and Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW).
“Again, we are stepping up to the mark when requested, and our members continually go above and beyond; it’s phenomenal to see time after time,” the spokesperson said.
“However, a lot of this would not be possible without the leadership and guidance of this team who have instigated, arranged, and coordinated numerous plans, for that we pass on our sincere thanks and gratitude.
“We also understand that some of our members may be severely impacted by these floods and what is occurring, so we would encourage your clubs to reach out and check in on one another whenever possible.”
HSLS members also provided critical advice at local, regional, and state emergency operation centres.
They thanked the SOC (State Operations Centre) team at SLSNSW, the duty officers and the members who helped out at SES.
“We certainly work well as a team, and if we reflect on the last few years, it’s definitely been challenging with bushfires, floods, covid, and now flooding again,” the statement read.
“Keep up the great work, and thanks for all that you and your teams are doing.”
Assistance
The Australian Government has activated the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) and Disaster Recovery Allowance (DRA) to support those heavily affected by the storms and flooding.
The AGDRP provides a one-off, non-means-tested payment of $1,000 for eligible adults and $400 for eligible children, who have been seriously injured, lost their homes or whose homes have been directly damaged, or the immediate family members of a person who has lost their life, as a direct result of the storms and floods.
People eligible for DRA can access income assistance for up to 13 weeks, equivalent to the maximum rate of Jobseeker Payment or Youth Allowance.
Services Australia Disaster phones lines are open now – the quickest and easiest way to claim is to call 180 22 66.
Lines are open from 8 am to 8 pm local time, seven days a week.
To check eligibility and for more information on support available, visit: servicesaustralia.gov.au.
Assistance available for the Hunter region through the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements may include:
-Help for eligible people whose homes or belongings have been damaged.
-Support for affected local councils to help with the costs of cleaning up and restoring damaged essential public assets.
-Concessional interest rate loans for small businesses, primary producers and non-profit organisations.
-Freight subsidies for primary producers and grants to eligible non-profit organisations.
For more information, go to: disasterassistance.service.nsw.gov.au, and to apply for a concessional loan or grant, go to: www.raa.nsw.gov.au.
Hayley McMahon