The heavy rain that has lashed much of New South Wales in recent weeks has sparked significant flooding in many communities … and causing chaos for grey nomads and other travellers.
Many roads have been affected … and so have campsites.
Parts of a caravan park in Gunnedah were inundated with water as the Namoi River peaked at around 8.60 metres today — 40 centimetres higher than the major height observed on Wednesday.
Gunnedah local Rebecca Ryan told the ABC she was stunned by what she had seen.
“We’re used to seeing our beautiful green oval here, and now it’s become part of the Namoi,” she said.
“You often hear people say, ‘It’ll take a flood to break a drought, or the flood will end up breaking the drought’ … I guess we’ve had a bit of a reprieve over the past year, but this is certainly the flood.”
Long-time resident of the region, Graham Taylor, agreed that the flooding is “one of the highest we’ve seen”.
He told the ABC it compared to multiple big floods in the 1970s, although said the 1978 inundation was still the biggest.
In that flood, the water had lapped at the steps of the local caravan park’s office, where his parents had been the managers.
Mt Taylor said everyone had had to be evacuated that night.
An excavator was used to rescue two campers trapped by floodwater. PIC: QFES / ABC
There has been plenty of water in Queensland, too. At Barney View, some 30 kilometres south of Beaudesert in the Scenic Rim, flash flooding surrounded two campers, leaving them stranded.
Emergency services spent almost two hours trying to rescue them, before an excavator had to be called in. It moved earth away, enabling the pair to be rescued.
