Rains ease, NSW towns still isolated

(AAP) - A timely break in the weather has allowed many evacuees from flood-ravaged northern NSW to return home, but thousands more remain isolated.

NSW Premier Nathan Rees toured the devastated flood zone on Sunday, appointing
former police commissioner Ken Moroney to head recovery operations.
He said Mr Moroney would be based in northern NSW, where flood warnings remain
current for nine rivers, although the rain has eased substantially.
The state government has declared a natural disaster area covering the Kempsey,
Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Nambucca, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Tweed, Byron, Ballina,
Lismore, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley areas.
Mr Rees said in a statement the third major flood to swamp the mid-north coast this
year had compounded the damage inflicted by those in February and April.
"We are working with local government, industry groups and welfare agencies to
establish one-stop-shop disaster recovery centres to provide coordinated assistance
to people in need,"he said.
Residents at Lismore and Grafton have been given the all-clear to return home but
while the water that swamped Kempsey's CBD is receding, the evacuation order there
remains in place.
An estimated 16,700 people have been evacuated and up to 22,000 have been isolated
in the floods, which also claimed the life of a 70-year-old man found near his
submerged car south of Coffs Harbour on Friday.
An State Emergency Service (SES) spokeswoman said 130 people were evacuated from
Cabbage Tree Island in the northern rivers on Sunday, while the towns of Coraki and
Woodburn remain isolated.
On the mid-north coast, the towns of Maclean, Yamba, Bellingen, Thora, Darkwood,
South West Rocks and Smithtown also remain isolated.
She said volunteers had performed 147 flood rescues, medical evacuations, assisted
evacuations, resupply runs to isolated communities and animal rescues since the
floods started.
"Many of these communities are used to the isolation," she said.
"Volunteers will continue the resupply runs and will monitor the situation."
The NSW government disaster declaration extends from the northern rivers to the
mid-north coast in the wake of storms that wreaked havoc from southeast Queensland
to Coffs Harbour.
Authorities were forced to fly a salvage team to an unmanned barge that broke free
from a tug boat off the coast at Forster during a wild storm late on Saturday.
The SES is also investigating why two floodboats broke down and drifted into rough
seas while assessing flood risks along the Tweed River about 1.20am (AEST) on
Sunday.
Once the crews managed to get their vessels back to shore, five volunteers were
taken to the Tweed Hospital suffering broken ribs, lacerations, bruising and
exposure.
Isolated showers are forecast along the coast for Monday.