Premier visits flood-stricken NSW

For the thousands of people who live along the Clarence River, floods are part of life.
Folks remain nonchalant even though about 3000 people were forced to leave their
homes in northern NSW on Wednesday.
In fact, they're more worried about their neighbours to the north.
"I was struck by the resilience of this community but also their generosity, that in
their own time of need their thoughts were turning northwards to what is an
unimaginable situation," NSW Premier Kristina Keneally said from the flood-stricken
community of Grafton.
"There is an extraordinary flood event occurring here and the impact on the
community is significant."
Crowds gathered at Grafton's Memorial Park about midday (AEDT) to see the river
reach 7.6 metres, just 40cm short of the levee.
Ms Keneally, who made an emergency visit to the city to inspect the damage, chatted
with flood victims as, across the state's north, more than 3100 people were issued
with evacuation orders.
More than 2000 of them come from Ulmarra, Brushgrove and Cowper, along the Clarence
River near Grafton.
The remainder, some 850 people, have been asked to leave their homes at Boggabilla
and Toomelah.
Another 8500 people have been cut off by floodwaters.
"It's still a very serious flood situation in our state with so many people both
evacuated and isolated," SES spokesman Phil Campbell told AAP.
"(But) at this stage, everything is very much in control in NSW. We're certainly in
a better condition than our cousins up in Queensland."
The premier's visit included a flight over Grafton and then north to Maclean, where
several roads are cut and residents are on standby to be evacuated.
At Lawrence, about 25km northeast of Grafton, rooftops were the only signs of life.
The Pacific Highway is cut at several locations by the flooded Clarence, leaving
motorists with nowhere to go.
Livestock huddle on high peaks at dairy farms north of Grafton as hay bales float past.
"It's an extraordinary amount of water we have seen," Ms Keneally said.
"Many people in these towns have seen floods before but some people said to me ...
that they haven't seen them quite like this, quite to this scale or quite this
amount of water."
Rain events in the region are forecast to continue into March, SES Commissioner
Murray Kear said.
Following the rescue of two youths from the Clarence River on Wednesday morning, Mr
Kear again urged people not to enter floodwaters.
"No matter how experienced you think you are in a local community, never drive, ride
or walk through floodwater, that's where the majority of flood rescues are done,
that's where I put my volunteers at risk by going out and having to rescue people
that have ignored that advice," he said.
The full impact of the floods may not be known for weeks, according to Ms Keneally.
"It is likely that there will be some significant costs associated with this but we
are not in a position yet to put a dollar figure on it," she said.
Property owner Geoff Ottaway, who has left his home some 2km from Grafton, is just
happy to be out.
"I picked up everything yesterday and just went home this morning to drive the
tractor down the road out of harm," he told AAP.
"It won't flood there until tomorrow but I'd rather be out of it."



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