UPDATE MIDDAY:
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The SES is reminding people, particularly children on school holidays, not to play near flood water or storm water drains, as wet and wild weather continues to lash the Hunter.
SES spokesman Phil Campbell said emergency crews expected a few more heavy downpours and wind speeds to increase on Wednesday afternoon in the Maitland area before conditions eased in the evening.
He said none of the several flood rescues that had taken place in the Hunter since Tuesday morning had occurred in the Maitland area.
"It looks like people are learning they're not to go into flood water," Mr Campbell said.
He also said emergency crews wanted to remind children who were still on school holidays not to play near flood water or drains.
Anyone in needs of sand bags to safeguard their home against water can collect them from the SES headquarters in Rutherford.
Anyone who needs SES assistance should call 132 500.
UPDATE 10am:
SES crews and Rural Fire Service volunteers have spent the morning filling sandbags at Maitland's SES headquarters in Metford, ahead of more heavy rain expected later on Wednesday.
SES controller Ian Robinson said Maitland crews had received more than 140 calls since Tuesday morning.
"In the Maitland area, we are getting a lot of requests for sand bagging," he said.
"A lot of it is for what is expected to come. We've had a few roof jobs, but with the high winds increasing, we are on the lookout for tree jobs."
Mr Robinson said there had not been any calls to rescue motorists who had driven into floodwater in Maitland in the past 24 hours.
"I'm hopeful that they have learnt from the past," he said.
"No matter how confident a driver you are, if it's flood water don't drive through it - you don't know what it's like underneath."
USEFUL LINKS:
MONDAY 9.30AM:
Maitland State Emergency Service officers and volunteers are on high alert, fielding calls for rain damage, filling sandbags, carrying out evacuations and monitoring flood levels across the Lower Hunter.
Up to 13 residential properties and two commercial properties in Hooke, Dowling and Brown streets Dungog have been evacuated.
Flood water from the Hunter River at Raymond Terrace has started to inundate the lower areas of the Raymond Terrace CBD along the Hunter River.
The one godsend for the SES is that the Hunter River is not rising dramatically in the Maitland area. However all eyes are on the Williams and Paterson rivers.
The SES reported at 9am that Testers Hollow is under and the road blocked and there are also flash flooding at Phoenix Park and Paterson.
Between midnight last night and 9am this morning the SES reported the following warnings for:
. Paterson River at Gosywyck Bridge.
. Allyn River at Halton.
. Paterson River at Vacy.
. Williams River at Dungog.
. Williams River at Mill Dam Falls.
Rainfall had eased earlier this morning across the Paterson and Williams valleys however the SES remained concerned that significant flooding of rural land may occur around Paterson Dungog, Glen Martin and Clarence Town.
TUESDAY NIGHT UPDATE
by MICHAEL HARTSHORN, DAN PROUDMAN and MICHAEL McGOWAN
Maitland was on the verge of being isolated on Tuesday night as the cumulative effect of a day’s rain led to flooding across the Hunter.
Rail services between Maitland and Newcastle were cut with debris blocking the line at Sandgate.
Passengers were told that services would be closed until 9pm and possibly longer.
One train was stranded at Hexham.
Major disruptions to traffic were reported at Raymond Terrace Road at Thornton, the M1 at John Renshaw Drive, Beresfield and the New England Highway at Anderson Drive, Tarro.
Maitland received 47.4mm from 9am to about 7pm, with falls continuing. Torrential rain soaked parts of Newcastle on Tuesday afternoon, with some areas receiving between 30 and 60mm in less than an hour.
Residents of Windella Downs were unable to get home when the entrance to the estate was flooded.
The creek at Lochinvar that caused major damage to houses in Hunter Close during the April super storm was threatening those houses again on Tuesday night.
There were flood warnings in place for Bulahdelah – where the main street was closed – and parts of the Hunter River near Bulga.
The Bureau of Meteorology also issued a flood watch for large swathes of the Hunter including Lake Macquarie and the Newcastle CBD.
Humid easterly winds fed into a trough on the NSW coast, generating widespread rain.
A small low pressure centre may form within the trough, most likely off the Hunter or Mid North Coast.
Widespread rain totals of 30 to 60mm were likely during this time, and isolated falls of 200mm are possible.
About 194mm of rain fell on Bulahdelah between 9am on Monday and 9am on Tuesday. Another 69mm fell between 9am and 5pm.
Upper Chichester near Barrington Tops received 155mm in that time, and Bungwahl copped 135mm.
Northern parts of Newcastle were the worst affected – with Wallsend among the worst, receiving 57mm between 9am and 5pm.
The Bureau issued a flood warning for the Hunter River after as much as 105mm of rain fell in the Wollombi Brook catchment area in the 24 hours to 4pm on Tuesday.
