Flooding has eased in northern New South Wales but not before cutting off a number of communities and damaging roads. The impact has been greatest in the tweed region where the conditions have been testing the resolve of residents still recovering from severe flooding nearly two years ago.
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00:00 Despite countless warnings from the SES, this still happens.
00:06 A driver plows through a flooded creek near Kyogle, avoiding disaster by a matter of seconds.
00:13 The occupants of that vehicle, extremely fortunate.
00:16 The footage shows very clearly what did happen as soon as they left that bridge.
00:20 The bridge was washed away.
00:22 It's been a wet start to the new year in many parts of the Northern Rivers region.
00:26 The heaviest falls were recorded near the Queensland border.
00:29 In the 48 hours to 9 o'clock this morning, parts of the Tweed Valley received more than half a metre of rain,
00:36 with the heaviest falls recorded at Numbunbar and Limpinwood.
00:40 Further south at Kyogle, more than 100mm fell over 24 hours.
00:45 The deluge led to 115 calls for assistance to the SES, including 28 flood rescues.
00:53 Many of those needing help were campers in the Tweed catchment.
00:57 The situation on the campground was pretty bad, so we decided it's better to go home.
01:02 But once we came through the town here, we had to stay here because we couldn't go anywhere.
01:09 Those in the village of Talgham were isolated by floodwater for much of the day,
01:13 but by mid-afternoon conditions had eased and roads reopened.
01:18 But with the catastrophic events of 2022 still painfully fresh for many locals,
01:23 even minor flooding can be traumatic.
01:26 The community is reeling.
01:28 Obviously they only just got their road open out at Talgham about six weeks ago,
01:32 after nearly two years of having it closed.
01:35 While more rain is expected on the state's far north coast this week,
01:38 the Weather Bureau is not predicting any heavy falls.
01:42 But things can change quickly, and thunderstorms are always a possibility at this time of year.
01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]