Mid North News

A Supreme Court jury has heard that a young girl found dead at a house north of Newcastle, in November 2007, had at times been given drugs by her mother to help her sleep. Medical professionals today described how the mother appeared stressed about her daughter, who had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. Her parents are on trial for murder.

While the flood crisis in northern New South Wales is easing, some communities on the state’s coast remain isolated. Floodwaters are slowly receding around Kempsey, but exhausted SES volunteers have another busy night ahead of them. They’ve spent today ferrying supplies to thousands of people in small villages, still cut off by floodwater.

Port Macquarie Base Hospital’s long-awaited expansion may be included in the June state budget. State Health Minister John Della Bosca indicated the project was a key priority, but he fell short of committing any funds during a visit this afternoon.

And heavy surf has made mountains out of sand dunes on the mid north coast. The largest tides seen this year, caused extensive erosion to many beaches. Coffs Harbour’s Park Beach one of the worst hit. The main walkway to the sand now hangs precariously off a four metre high cliff. At the height of the strong southerly system, offshore buoys recorded waves as high as 14 metres. Onshore, six metre high surges crashed into the northern wall, dislodging several 14-tonne boulders. [display_podcast]

Pictures have emerged of the north coast town of Yamba, which remains isolated as a result of the flood crisis. The road into nearby Maclean has reopened, while work is underway to repair the Pacific Highway, north of Grafton. And as the mop-up continues, communities are only starting to realise the true cost of the flooding. [display_podcast]

Bellingen is reeling from its third flood this year. Never before has the flood prone community been inundated so many times in the space of four months. [display_podcast]

The plan to put the “port” back into Port Macquarie is progressing. A commercial wharf is being built beside the Hastings River which will open the town up to a new level of trade.

While the emergency has passed on the northern rivers, the nuisance hasn’t. A combination of flood water and king tides caused its share of headaches in Ballina last night.

Kempsey’s flood crisis has passed, but thousands of people in coastal and low-lying towns remain cut off. The new day brought sunshine back to the Macleay Valley as residents began to clean up.

The Macleay River has burst it’s banks, flooding the town of Kempsey and surrounding villages. But with the river still rising, the extent of damage remains to be seen.