The former tropical cyclone – now downgraded to a tropical depression – has battered the coastline with gale-force winds that toppled trees, brought down power lines, and damaged buildings.
It was still creating heavy rainfall, swelling rivers in parts of a 400-kilometre stretch of the coast straddling southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales, government forecasters said.
Utility companies said 295,000 properties in southeast Queensland and another 42,600 in New South Wales were without power, warning that floods could hamper repairs.
Although the weather system “stalled and began weakening,” the bureau of meteorology warned that intense rain and damaging wind gusts were a risk throughout the weekend.
“Rivers are already starting to respond to the heavy rainfall, with many Minor to Major Flood Warnings current,” the bureau said in a statement.
One man was missing after his four-wheel drive pick-up truck was swept off a bridge into a rain-engorged river the previous day in northern New South Wales.
He clambered out of the vehicle and tried in vain to cling to a tree branch in the river.
“The man was swept from the tree and seen to go beneath the water where he has not been sighted since,” police said in a statement.
Flooded roads and high winds made it too dangerous to send in crews or helicopters to search for him.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there were “grave concerns” for the man.
“While it has been downgraded, very serious risks remain so it is important that people do not take this downgrading as a reason for complacency,” Albanese told a news conference.
“Its impact will be serious and will intensify over coming hours and indeed over coming days.”
Evacuation orders have been issued for 16,200 people in New South Wales, where 30 flood rescues have been carried out over the past 24 hours, emergency services said.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told a news conference the emergency was not over.
“It’s not over for the following reasons: The rivers are full. The rain is continuing and is expected to keep falling in the days ahead. And wind conditions are very high and extreme,” he said.
But in Lismore – a northern New South Wales city hit by deadly floods in 2022 and a focus of concern in the past few days – the Wilsons River was no longer expected to spill over a 10.6-metre levee protecting inhabitants, forecasters said.
Paramedic Ginny Burke, 30, said she was at work when the wind uprooted a large gum tree that smashed through the house she is renting in Elanora on the Gold Coast in Queensland.
Burke said she returned to her crushed home, where her sister recounted that she had heard the tree fall on Friday evening but described the calamity as “really unexciting.”
“What can you do?” the paramedic asked. “It’s just stuff. Everyone’s safe.” (AFP)
