There have been more than 5000 calls for assistance to the State Emergency Service across the Northern Zone so far, with the region not out of the woods quite yet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Deputy incident controller Superintendent Graeme Craig said crews had been responding to jobs across the Northern Zone, which runs from Gosford to Tweed Heads, for almost two weeks now.
There were 399 calls for assistance across the Hunter and Central Coast in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning.
"Of those, 115 remained outstanding," SES Northern Zone deputy incident controller Superintendent Graeme Craig said.
"That's been a fairly routine day for us particularly over the last eight days of the 11 day event."
And despite the weather expected to clear from tomorrow, Superintendent Craig said recovery could continue for months.
"It will be a considerable effort in recovery," he said.
A severe weather warning was current in the Hunter on Tuesday afternoon with damaging winds, heavy rainfall, abnormally high tides and damaging surf possible.
Superintendent Craig said the SES was closely monitoring Bulga, where a major flood warning is in place for the Wollombi Brook and river levels were nearing the peak.
"And as that comes down the system we'll continue to watch that," he said. "We're certainly not out of the woods yet."
Moderate flooding is possible at Singleton overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.
Despite predictions of up to 100mm of rain in some parts of the Hunter on Tuesday, the totals have been modest across the region up to the early afternoon. Murrurundi Gap has recorded the most rain since 9am Tuesday with just 6.2mm.
But further rainfall is predicted on Tuesday, which could cause further river level rises throughout the Hunter Valley.
Superintendent Craig said the main warning from the SES remained clear - stay away from flood waters.
"We can't make the messages any clearer," he said. "If it's flooded just don't go into it.
"We've had road infrastructure damages where there has been very sign pavement damage to the road. You don't know what's under there. Don't enter it under any circumstances."
More coverage
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
