Paul Lobb with an update on the Hunter’s flooding emergency.
Several areas of the Hunter have been affected by major flooding – Dungog and the Maitland area have been worst hit.
Here’s the big picture:
– NSW Premier Mike Baird has declared the event a natural disaster. That will unlock special funding for people affected.
– Three people are dead after being caught in floodwaters at Dungog
– Two people are missing feared drowned near Maitland after trying to drive across a flooded creek.
– More than two hundred thousand customers are still without electricity between Newcastle and Sydney.
NBN weatherman Gavin Morris is amongst the storm debris in Newcastle’s Civic Park.
There’s been a tragic scene at Gillieston Heights near Maitland today where two people are feared missing in floodwaters off Cessnock Road.
– Witnesses say a woman drove her small car across a flooded causeway – the car was swept in Fishery Creek.
– Passing motorists ran to her aid and four would-be rescuers got into trouble and needed rescuing themselves.
– Efforts are underway to recover the car, which may have had a passenger in it as well, but floodwater in the Maitland area is still running swiftly.
– We have a clip here from a man who saw the woman’s car being swept away.
We have some new information about the three people who died in flooding at Dungog yesterday. They were 79 year old Colin Webb, 72 year old Brian Wilson,
and Robin MacDonald aged 68. All were been trapped in their residences after a flash flood swept through the town on Tuesday morning.
Flood warnings remain in place for the Hunter, Williams and Paterson Rivers, the Wyong River and Tuggerah Lake.
The water has been very high on Lake Macquarie too.
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