Floods claim second victim: [2 Edition]
Luke McIlveen, John Stapleton. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 12 Mar 2001: 4.
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Abstract
As the Clarence River threatened to break the levees around Grafton, more than 1000 people were evacuated to higher ground in Coffs Harbour. They began returning yesterday to survey their losses.
Across the border in Maclean, the Macleay River peaked at 6.7m on Saturday night, the highest recording since 1963. Emergency workers used powerboats to reach a man who injured his leg wading through the waters and a baby that had been bitten by a dog.
Devastation: between Yamba and Grafton 11/3/2001 xxx DT News Clarence river floods between Yamba and Grafton 11/3/2001 Picture: Rohan Kelly; Photo: Photo
Full Text
A MAN was killed in Brisbane yesterday when flood waters swept his car off a causeway — the second tragedy resulting from the devastating storms that has hit the east coast.
A 12-year-old boy, Joshua Bohun, drowned on Friday night after he was torn from his mother’s grasp when their car washed into a swollen creek on Brisbane’s northern outskirts.
Across the border in NSW, a week of torrential rain forced thousands of residents on the north coast to be evacuated to neighbouring towns.
The raging floodwaters in Grafton and Kempsey began to subside yesterday, but not before the mid-north coast towns had seen the worst flooding in half a century.
As the Clarence River threatened to break the levees around Grafton, more than 1000 people were evacuated to higher ground in Coffs Harbour. They began returning yesterday to survey their losses.
Last night the township of Yamba on the Clarence River remained totally isolated.
Ambulance officers were forced to relocate 80 patients from Grafton Hospital to neighbouring Lismore on Saturday morning.
Up to 300 people are expected to be evacuated from Gladstone and Smithtown by Australian Defence Force helicopters this morning due to the failure of sewerage infrastructure. The evacuations are expected to begin at 8am.
Across the border in Maclean, the Macleay River peaked at 6.7m on Saturday night, the highest recording since 1963. Emergency workers used powerboats to reach a man who injured his leg wading through the waters and a baby that had been bitten by a dog.
A search party failed to find any trace of a canoeist lost on Friday along the flooded Styx River, east of Armidale, in the New England region.
The State Emergency Service urged people not to attempt to get through floodwaters and to stay put until they could be reached.
“Most deaths during floods happen when people try to drive through flood water,” operations centre manager Rick Stone said.
“No matter how well you may know the local area, driving becomes treacherous when roads are submerged.”
The 470-population town of Ulmarra, downstream from the Clarence, was deserted when SES staff ordered a total evacuation.
Along the Bellinger River, the communities of Bellingen, Thora, Kalang and Darkwood remained cut off by road last night.
The army and navy were called in to assist, using helicopters to drop supplies to stranded farmers. The rescue and sandbagging effort was led by more than 500 SES volunteers.
Illustration
Caption: Devastation: between Yamba and Grafton 11/3/2001 xxx DT News Clarence river floods between Yamba and Grafton 11/3/2001 Picture: Rohan Kelly; Photo: Photo