Rising water causes local flooding along the Bellinger River Coffs Coast Coffs Coast by News Of The Area - Modern Media - April 8, 2022 The towns of Repton and Mylestom were cut off when water from the Bellinger River flowed across the road. THE topic of conversation on everyone’s lips this past week has been the weather. Our thoughts and sympathies were with our northern neighbours and we echoed their sentiments of “oh no, not again” as news came through of even higher flood levels. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au But, while nothing like the north, our region was not without a few worrying moments. Drenching rain and flooding in low-lying areas were experienced generally across the region, with residents in many low-lying areas ordered to leave their homes for safety on higher ground. Residents everywhere were staying close to home and keeping close watch on local rivers and low-lying roads. The Bellingen Shire is just one example of a district that’s been on high alert, with communities impacted by extensive flooding that resulted in evacuation orders and road closures that affected a number of small towns, including Mylestom, Repton, Raleigh and Urunga. Once again the rain spelt challenging times for communities on the plateau with road closures on Waterfall Way and Coramba Road. On Wednesday, as the rain kept falling and the wind increased, the words of Bellingen Shire Mayor Steve Allan were ominous. “We are faced with extensive damage and closures to roads and bridges across our Shire, including further landslips forcing the closure of Waterfall Way between Bellingen and Dorrigo,” he said. “There are multiple SES evacuation orders in place across Urunga CBD, Newry Island, Bellinger River Caravan Park, parts of Yellow Rock and Bellinger Keys, and there is also an evacuation order for East Bellingen and North Bellingen.” The Mayor firmly advised everyone to only undertake essential travel and exercise caution. An evacuation centre was set up at Urunga CeX, and crews from the local RFS, the SES, North Bellingen Rural Fire Brigade and Fire and Rescue NSW Bellingen banded together with emergency service partners to assist the community. Busy SES members said they appreciated the cookie drops and offers to fill sandbags while praising the “general flood-savvy nature” of residents. On a fine day, the Bellinger River meanders eastwards to the coast from the Great Dividing Range southeast of Ebor. Flowing through an extensive coastal floodplain, it is joined by four major tributaries and numerous smaller creeks along its 69km course to the ocean near Urunga, having joined with the Kalang River a short way upstream. But after days of heavy rain, with a massive amount of water running into the river, by the time it reaches the ocean near North Beach, the Bellinger is overflowing, a brown and murky, swiftly flowing river sweeping trees, logs and other debris along in its wake. By Susan KONTIC The boardwalk encircling the tidal pool at Mylestom is completely underwater, with only the tops of the poles visible, and debris caught in the mesh fence. It’s impossible to tell where the river ends and the tourist park at Repton begins. All campers were evacuated days before as the water started to rise. Debris washes down the river as water laps the steps of homes at Raleigh. The river rose quickly with the heavy rain and volume of water running into it from upstream. Trees, logs and telegraph poles washed down to the river’s mouth.
