NE3151245

Thursday, February
ry 2, 2012
2 Phone 6768
676 1200 Price $1.40 ((GST inclusive))

Eel-ectric Vegie JB brings Tin Shed

Big league meets price war to Tamworth
the little league What it means to
W
John Butler with his tin shed
you and the that will be the backdrop for
5 growers 7 his Tamworth show in April. 12

Rising
concern
Region on flood alert and
there’s more to come
By Haley Sheridan
RURAL communities near Moree
were expected to become isolated
last night after the banks of the
Gwydir and Mehi rivers threatened
to break, while other areas of the
region remained on flood watch
following relentless rain.
For the Moree area it is the sec-
ond flood event in four months,
and the $30 million worth of dam- rain fell in the Gwydir catchment in ABOVE – DANGER: Cars
age caused to the shire’s infrastruc- 24 hours. continue to ignore road-
ture late last year was expected to In other parts of the region the closed signs and drive
increase further. SES, Bureau of Meteorology and through flood water on
State Emergency Service (SES) local councils were keeping a close the Gwydir Highway
yesterday.
volunteers were racing against watch as dam levels, rivers and
time to fill sandbags which were creeks rose. LEFT – PROTECTION: An
distributed to low-lying areas of The bureau was forecasting the SES volunteer sandbags
Moree, Gravesend, Pallamallawa possibility of minor to moderate a house at Yarraman
and Yarraman after 40 to 100mm of ■ continued page 2 yesterday.

Radar images over the course of yesterday show a huge rain band moving very slowly over the region dumping steady rain

TAMWORTH TAMWORTH TAMWORTH TAMWORTH

10.30am 12.30pm 2.30pm 4.30pm

NEW
GARDEN ART arriving weekly
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Just down from The Pub, turn off Dampier Street at the Indoor Sports Centre See posters in the Centre for full details.
 2 Thursday, February 2, 2012
INSIDE TODAY
WEATHER TODAY
FORECAST TOMORROW
FRIDAY: Rain
RAINFALL
Rain Yearly Mean Average
639.5mm
REGULARS
Opinion
Nation
Sharemarket
Television
Admit One Entertainment
Cartoons
Trading Post
Sport
Weather
Warning issued for parts of the district
THE Bureau of Meteorology late last
night issued a flood warning for some
rivers in the Tamworth district.
While some properties were report-
edly isolated yesterday, the Namoi
State Emergency Service (SES) has
reported few calls for assistance but is
running a 24-hour flood-assistance
operation. Two Narrabri residents
were evacuated from Maules Creek
after becoming stranded in the area
Flood alert and there’s more on the way
■ from page 1
flooding last night along
parts of the MacIntyre River,
moderate to major flooding
along the Gwydir and mod-
erate to major flooding
along the Namoi and Peel
rivers.
By yesterday afternoon,
Tamworth received the
equivalent of a month’s
worth of rain in the first 18
hours of February.
With the wet weather set
to continue today, at least 40
additional SES personnel
from outlying areas were
called to Moree to prepare
for the area’s second flood in
10 weeks.
Two helicopters were dis-
patched to Moree yesterday
and were monitoring the
flood situation from the air.
The closure of a number
of northern highways
meant traffic was redirected
NE3145517
Rain Min
21˚ 15˚
26˚/16˚
Rain Year To Date
138.2mm
8
9 Gunnedah
10
11 welcomes
12
17
18
new police
20
Page 7
27
and unable to get home yesterday.
SES volunteers will resupply resi-
dents of an isolated property at
Edgeroi with food some time today.
SES region controller Kathleen Cain
said crews were preparing for further
rain and the possibility of flooding in
the district.
We have two aircraft in the region,
both in Gunnedah and Narrabri. We
are still on flood watch,” she said.
onto alternative routes,
including the New England
Highway.
While the Gwydir High-
way was closed between
Moree and Warialda, there
were also concerns last
night the Newell faced
being cut by floodwaters
overnight.
The worst-affected was
the stretch of highway near
Tycannah Creek.
“Things have changed
quite recently and it’s not for
the good,” SES media officer
Heidi Groom said.
“There is a moderate to
major flood warning on the
Gwydir River and a moder-
ate flood warning for the
Mehi River.”
Ms Groom said while it
was difficult to predict peak
river heights, with further
rainfall forecast for the area,
the Gwydir River was
Key Phone Numbers
Switch
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Editorial
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Printed and published by The Northern Daily Leader for Regional
Publishers Pty Limited (ACN 000014700) part of Fairfax Media.
Registered by Australia Post - Print Post No. P245673/00014. The copy
subsisting in any advertisements and photographs is owned by the
publisher and can not be duplicated
in any form without the written
permission of the publisher.
WEDNESDAY LOTTO RESULTS
9 30 35
Supps 33
“The Namoi region is running a 24-
hour roster through (last night) and
we’re keeping a close eye on the rivers
and creeks.
“We’re starting to see the area reach a
saturation point.
“The rain we receive from here on
will be run-off.
“There will be an increased risk of
flooding, depending on the continual
rainfall.”
expected to peak at a mod- two helicopters at our
erate flood level of 11m at disposal.
Gravesend last night and “There are flood-rescue
10m at Pallamallawa. technicians here, and we
Moderate flooding is have more than 40 extra
expected at Yarraman, with people who came from out
the Gwydir River predicted of the area to volunteer.”
to peak at 7.1m at noon
She said it was possible
today. entire communities could
“We’ve had some prob-
become isolated due to the
lems in Moree on the Mehi
high river levels.
River, which is looking to
“There are a lot of proper-
exceed a minor flood level of
ties isolated. There would
5.5m and to reach a moder-
have to be dozens, with the
ate flood level of 7.6m,” Ms
Groom said. potential to be hundreds.
“We’re telling everyone to With these flood levels, if
be prepared. We’ve got they do happen, then whole
thousands of sandbags and districts will become iso-
there’s more on the way. late,” she said.
“If residents need to get “If Pallamallawa reaches
sandbags, they can go and 10m, the community will be
collect them from the isolated there.”
Moree council depot. Rural Fire Service crews
“We have SES crews on were also on standby to
standby and they are avail- assist with pumping water
able for help, and we have from inundated properties.
http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au
(02) 6768 1200
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11 37 43
38
Windsor claims
govt ‘derailed’
hospital project
REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
FEDERAL independent MP Tony
Windsor has blasted the state gov-
ernment, accusing it of making a
new Armidale hospital redevelop-
ment plan a casualty of its political
games.
Mr Windsor last night claimed
the Armidale project had been
derailed and that the government
and health minister had misled the
parliament by claiming the Armi-
dale application was not offered an
opportunity to apply for federal
funding and not proposed for
second-round funding, after an
unsuccessful first-round applica-
tion. He said he was particularly
disappointed that a deserving local
project has missed out on the huge
increase in funding for regional
areas that was delivered under his
agreement with Prime Minister
Julia Gillard.
Under the terms of this agree-
ment, the federal government
committed to prioritising the roll-
out of the National Broadband Net-
work in regional areas, a $1.8 billion
ONLINE POLL
L
THIS WEEK...
Should charges be laid against those
involved in the violent protest targeting
prime minister Julia Gillard and
opposition leader Tony Abbott on
Australia Day?
YES NO
TO ANSWER GO TO POLLS AT...
www.northerndailyleader.com.au
RESULTS NEXT SATURDAY
FOR THE RECORD
The Northern Daily Leader aims to be accurate.
Despite our best efforts sometimes we make
mistakes. When we do, we want to know what's
wrong. The space in our daily index has been
reserved for corrections. If we have made an error
please contact the editorial department. Contact
details are in the index panel.
Health and Hospitals Fund region-
al priority round, $1.4 billion in
regional development funding and
a $500 million regional priorities
round of the Education Investment
Fund.
He said NSW Health Minister Jil-
lian Skinner should apologise to
the people of Armidale for derailing
the city’s hospital’s redevelopment
chances.
The Armidale hospital redevel-
opment was denied funding under
the Health and Hospitals Fund’s
first regional priority round, but
$475 million of the $1.8 billion fund
was held over for a second round so
country areas could revise their
applications to better meet the
criteria.
The Hunter New England Area
Health Service submitted a revised
application for the hospital rede-
velopment to the state government
for consideration under the second
round, but Mr Windsor said it
looked now like the government
blocked that application to the fed-
eral funding board.
NE3145517
 THE DRENCHED NORTH WEST SPECIAL REPORT

Friday, February 3, 2012 Phone 6768 1200 Price $1.40 (GST inclusive)

RACE AGAINST TIME: Volunteers place

sandbags (inset) and plastic in front of businesses in
Moree’s central business district yesterday.
Photo by SES.

JUST IN TIME: These Narrabri residents had

just completed moving furniture out of this house as
floodwaters approached the front door.
Photo by The Courier.

Rising tide IT WAS a nervous wait last night for more than
2000 people in the Moree district who had been
in the devastating 1976 flood.
An army of volunteers and SES personnel
We’re
looking
at water
up to our
knees...
evacuated from their homes earlier in the day as had spent the day sandbagging after the Moree mayor
rising floodwaters threatened to deliver the worst evacuation order had been issued. Businesses
inundation in 35 years. were closed and black plastic and sandbags Katrina Humphries
Narrabri was also drenched. Floodwaters had replaced people in the main street as the town’s
crippled the town’s sewerage plant and residents residents worked feverishly to prepare for the
had been busy moving belongings to safety inundation in North Moree.
throughout another day of unrelenting rain. The flooding was expected to be so bad the
“We’re looking at water up to our knees,” was Premier, the Deputy Premier and the Police
how Katrina Humphries, mayor of Moree Plains and Emergency Services Minister were flying to
Shire Council, reacted to the prediction the rising Moree today to inspect the situation first-hand.
tide would reach a peak of 10.6m, similar to that
See stories inside

Thousands evacuated Many more isolated

Worst flooding in 35 years Moree, Narrabri districts awash

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MIKE: 0428 490 823
NE3151316

45 HUME ST, TAMWORTH 6762 0650 TAMWORTH CITY PRESTIGE

NE3148454

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Just down from The Pub, turn off Dampier Street at the Indoor Sports Centre LUCAS: 0437 771 534
11-15 East St, Tamworth • Phone (02) 6766 5008 www.tamworthcityprestige.com DL No. 15409 lucas@tamworthcityprestige.com.au
 2 Friday, February 3, 2012 http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au

INSIDE TODAY
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WEATHER TODAY
Switch (02) 6768 1200
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Possible
shower Min Editorial (02) 6768 1225 THIS WEEK...
Classifieds (02) 6768 1222 Should charges be laid against those
24˚ 16˚ Circulation (02) 6768 1280 involved in the violent protest targeting
prime minister Julia Gillard and
Fax and Email
Editorial (02) 6766 7631 opposition leader Tony Abbott on
FORECAST TOMORROW Australia Day?
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SATURDAY: Possible shower
RAINFALL
28˚/16˚
TAFE: Classifieds (02) 6766 3181
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639.5mm
Rain Year To Date
259.2mm
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Page 22 Printed and published by The Northern Daily Leader for Regional Publishers www.northerndailyleader.com.au
REGULARS Pty Limited (ACN 000014700) part of Fairfax Media. Registered by Australia
RESULTS NEXT SATURDAY
Opinion 8 Post - Print Post No. P245673/00014. The copy subsisting in any
advertisements and photographs is owned by the publisher and can not be
Nation 9
Sharemarket 10
duplicated in any form without the FOR THE RECORD
written permission of the publisher.
Television 11 The Northern Daily Leader aims to be accurate.
Despite our best efforts sometimes we make
DRIVE 15 POWERBALL RESULTS mistakes. When we do, we want to know what's
Cartoons - stars 24 wrong. The space in our daily index has been
Trading Post 25 Main No. Powerball
reserved for corrections. If we have made an error
Sport 33 9 13 29 37 42 29 please contact the editorial department. Contact
Weather 39 details are in the index panel.

2000-plus
residents
evacuated
MOREE AREA
By Haley Sheridan
A MASSIVE evacuation
effort yesterday saw more
than 2000 people being
moved as floodwaters
expected to be the worst
in nearly 40 years hit the
Moree area.
The flood peak was
expected overnight but
before then residents
from North Moree and
Pallamallawa were told to
leave their homes ahead
of floods inundating
homes and businesses.
Moree was expected to
be split in two late last
night with the Geoffrey
Hunter Bridge on Frome
St to be cut about 8pm.
State Emergency Ser-
vice volunteers were
joined by police and rural
firefighters in evacuating
district residents.
Some of the 1600
Moree evacuees were to
stay with family and
friends but hundreds
were being moved into a
flood evacuation centre
at the Moree PCYC and
about 600 Pallamallawa
residents were sent to the
town hall.
It was estimated more
than 2500 properties in
the Moree area were
isolated.
Four additional heli-
copters were flown to
Moree, taking the total
fleet in the area to six.
A special request had
also been made to the
Australian Defence Force
for two aircraft with night
vision.
Extra supplies were
also expected to be sent in
from a Hercules aircraft
from Richmond.
More than 150 extra
SES personnel were being
flown in to join 40 volun-
teers operating a 24-hour
command centre.
As of yesterday, more
than 7000 sandbags were
filled in the Moree area.
The Gwydir River at
Gravesend reached its
15m peak yesterday while
the river at Pallamallawa
was expected to peak at
10.6m last night.
The Mehi River at
Moree is expected to peak
at 10.6m today.
The SES’s Heidi Groom
said North Moree, Yarra-
man and Biniguy were
the main areas of
concern.

Roads closed, damaged

MAJOR roads around
Tamworth, Moree and
Narrabri were cut yester-
day due to flooding and
were expected to remain
closed overnight.
The Oxley Highway
between Tamworth and
Gunnedah was closed
about 10am yesterday.
The road between
Narrabri and Wee Waa
was also expected to be
cut due to floodwater at
6pm.
The Newell Highway
between Narrabri and the
Queensland border was
closed by the Roads and
Traffic Authority as was
the Carnarvon Highway
between Moree and
Mungindi and the Gwydir
Highway between Wari-
alda and Collarenebri.
Thunderbolts Way
between Uralla and Bun-
darra was still not open to
motorists yesterday.
Traffic was being moni-
tored on theWaterfallWay
between Dorrigo and
Bellingen due to road sur-
face damage.
The Pacific Highway,
New England Highway
and Castlereagh Highway
remain open between
the NSW-Queensland
border.
For information on
flood-affected state roads
visit www.livetraffic.com
or phone 132 701.
 northerndailyleader.com.au
http://www.n
136yo record down gurgler
35 YEARS AGO: How The Northern Daily Leader reported the flood of January, 1976.
Schools’ students bussed to THS
By Jacqueline van Aanholt
THE ongoing rain, threat of flood-
ing and some uncertainty about
road closures resulted in more than
800 students being bussed to Tam-
worth High School yesterday.
Tamworth High School principal
Wayne Chaffey told The Leader
about 150 day boys from Farrer, five
or six busloads of students from
Carinya Christian School and later
a number of children from West-
dale Public School were brought to
the school as part of an emergency
transport plan.
Mr Chaffey said parents had
responded quickly to calls on local
radio and from their individual
schools to pick up their children
from Tamworth High.
“By about 2.30pm we had about
20 Carinya children left, 40 stu-
dents from Farrer and a handful of
students from Westdale still here,”
he said.
Primary school students were
catered for in the hall while the boys
from Farrer made themselves at
home in the library.
“Teachers from the primary
schools accompany their students
on the buses and ensure everyone
gets to where they need to safely,”
Mr Chaffey said.
Tamworth High School staff and
students quickly made their visi-
tors feel at home.
“They help orientate them with
where the facilities are,” Mr Chaffey
said.
Mr Chaffey praised the efforts of
the schools involved in the precau-
EMERGENCY TRANSPORT: Students from Farrer, Carinya and Westdale
were bussed to Tamworth High School yesterday as a precaution in case
roads to their schools were cut by flooding.
Photo: Robert Chappel 020212RCG0002
tionary evacuations and Tamworth
bus services involved in transport-
ing the children.
“It really went off seamlessly,” he
said.
Mr Chaffey said the emergency
transport plan had been invoked
about lunchtime yesterday.
“It’s very precautionary but in the
event Calala Ln closed and the
Gunnedah Rd also was closed due
to flooding, we did not want people
in an awkward and unsafe position
where they were trapped where
they shouldn’t be,” he said.
Friday, February 3, 2012 3
By Jacqueline van 9am one day to 9am the next, warnings to move their
Aanholt unlike the historic midnight equipment to higher ground
to midnight reporting. at lunchtime yesterday.
IT’S official – February 2,
2012 has become the wettest Proving this year’s weather Tamworth Regional Coun-
day in 136 years in Tamworth. is unique, in the first 33 days cil’s parks and horticulture
Gauges in backyards of 2012, Tamworth has manager Brian Sheedy said
across the city were overflow- recorded a total of 259.2mm as a result of the more than
ing yesterday after 121mm of rain, more than seven 100mm of rain in the past two
fell in the 24 hours to 9am yes- times the amount of rain that
days, the Peel River was
terday, smashing a number had fallen to the same point
expected to peak at five
of weather records. in 2011.
metres late yesterday.
The previous highest rain- In different areas of Calala,
Mr Sheedy said the Gipps
fall on any February day was residents reported between
28mm and 48mm of rain fell St and Riverside sports com-
111.5mm on February 20,
1928. between 7pm on Wednesday plexes would be impacted by
Other wettest days on and 1pm yesterday. flooding.
record – 118.1mm on January The Bureau of Meteorolo- “All field sports for the
12, 1968 and 113.8mm on gy said the ongoing rain was upcoming weekend have
December 18, 1907 – were the result of a broad trough of been cancelled until council
also knocked out of the park. low pressure sitting over the can reassess the situation
In the 42 hours to 6am yes- top of inland NSW. next Monday,” he said.
terday the deluge resulted in A spokesperson said the Mr Sheedy said sports
more than 157mm of rain, pattern, with help from a sys- associations that used club-
with more forecast well into tem over the state’s west, was houses at Riverside and
early next week. generating widespread rain Gipps St were to relocate
The 121mm is more than
across not only the North stored equipment to higher
double the historic average
West Slopes and Plains but ground.
monthly rainfall for Tam-
areas further west. “They were asked to pre-
worth during February and
Other towns on the receiv- pare for flooding of their
two days into the month we
appear to be well on our way ing end of downpours to 9am amenities buildings,” he
to the wettest ever February yesterday included Nowen- said.
on record; February 2008 doc, which recorded 117mm
Confusion peaked around
recorded 169mm. of rain, Narrabri 128mm,
lunchtime with reports that
Residents near Kingswood Moree 88mm, and Terry Hie
Calala Ln would close.
reported at least 85mm Hie where 87.6mm fell.
Late yesterday the lane
between 8pm Tuesday and The rain and subsequent
flooding resulted in 29 road remained open and was
the same time Wednesday
closures across the Tam- expected to unless heavy falls
night and in East Tamworth
one resident reported a huge worth Regional Council area. were received in the Nundle
135mm in the gauge between The bulk of the road clo- area.
7am on Tuesday and the sures were in Moore Creek, The Oxley Highway was
same time yesterday. Barraba and Manilla but closed between Tamworth
Weather records now offi- Tamworth’s local sporting and Gunnedah at Hoss
cially record rainfall from organisations were issued Causeway, Carroll.
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only two schools had been closed.
“At this stage we know that Car-
roll and Kingstown public schools
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“Some other schools have made
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 THE DRENCHED NORTH WEST SPECIAL REPORT

Saturday,
February 4, 2012
Phone 6768 1200
Price $1.70 (GST inclusive)

Worst in
60 years
ABOUT 10,000 Moree residents
were isolated yesterday after the
Mehi River peaked at 10.69 metres,
flooding CBD businesses and cutting
the town in two.
It is believed to be the highest river
peak since February 1955, when
State Emergency Service (SES)
data show the Mehi River peaked at
10.85m.
The scene at Moree was more like
Venice than rural NSW, Premier
Barry O’Farrell said after he flew over
the town to inspect the worst flooding
there in nearly 60 years.
The SES said Moree was likely to
be cut off for at least 24 hours, and
the floodwaters were unlikely to
recede for days or even weeks.
“The bad news is they say that peak
may stay in place for two to three
days,” Mr O’Farrell said.
The emergency continued into
last night and late yesterday. Six
people and a dog were rescued by
helicopter from the roof of a snake-
infested shearing shed near the town.

Stories inside

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 northerndailyleader.com.au
http://www.n Saturday, February 4, 2012 5

10,000 properties isolated

SES ON THE HOP
By Haley Sheridan
IT COULD be several days before
North Moree residents can return
home to assess the damage left by
floodwaters which turned the city
into a sea.
The Mehi River peaked at 10.69m
just before 11am yesterday with
water inundating dozens of shops,
homes and sports grounds.
Hundreds of rural properties
around Moree and Pallamallawa
are expected to be isolated any-
where from two days to several
weeks.
An estimated 10,000 properties
were isolated yesterday.
A meeting at Moree PCYC evacu-
ation centre last night saw police
and emergency services brief resi-
dents about the extent of the flood
situation.
More than 700 people had regis-
tered as evacuees, however the
majority were staying with family
and friends.
It is understood 2200 Moree dis-
trict residents were given evacua-
tion orders. Nine emergency
helicopters were brought into the
town to make assessments.
SES spokeswoman Heidi Groom
said until personnel could access
the area, a figure on the damage was
virtually impossible.
Extra supplies including food and
linen were flown to Moree Hospital
yesterday and the Salvation Army
established a food hall at the PCYC
evacuation centre.
The only two food shops report-
edly operating were McDonald’s
and KFC.
More than 150 SES volunteers
were being fed at the Moree Aero-
drome and emergency services
workers including police officers
isolated by the floods were ferried to
work via SES boats.
Crews conducted a number of
rescues which included a person
trapped on the roof of their car
about 10am yesterday.
Ms Groom said there would be a
“noticeable drop” in the water levels
at Moree over the next two days.
“It will be very slow to recede,”she
said.
“We’re still undertaking evacua-
tions; some people who did not BUSINESS SLOW: There’s not much happening in the swimming pool business in Moree with residents in all
areas having extensive water views. Photo: Natalie Anderson
evacuate have found the water
levels higher and deeper than ing down the track.” ing bedding, to Moree on Thursday Meighan said the aircraft and its
anticipated. The Australia Defence Force night. crew were released from a planned
“Most of them were well prepared tasked a Royal Australian Airforce C- Acting director general of joint training mission to undertake the
for it but there’ll be a lot of resupply- 130 Hercules to fly supplies, includ- operations Group Captain Craig humanitarian assistance flight.

Small break Not all skincare is

See you at the movies
oda
day S
day at 4th & Sunn 5th February
TToday...Sat
Sat
Sa

in the rainfall created equal!

THE TAMWORTH dis-
trict might see some dry
days this weekend after
rainfall eased over the
Peel and Namoi River val-
leys yesterday but show-
ers are due back for the
start of the week.
The low pressure
trough that has brought
the rain band still lies over
inland NSW but the
Bureau of Meterology
expects the trough to
weaken and for showers
to move eastward.
Over Thursday and
Friday, some towns saw
rain exceeding 120mm –
some of the highest on
record.
Mogil Mogil recorded
165mm on Thursday
with Narrabri reporting
128mm.
Tamworth’s fall of
121mm on Thursday
took the total rainfall for
the year so far to
279.8mm with Tam-
worth recording 21mm
yesterday to 9am.
Today is expected to
be cloudy with isolated
showers and light winds,
with overnight tempera-
tures falling to between
14 and 18 with daytime
temperatures reaching
the mid- to high-20s.
Tomorrow is expected
to be mostly sunny in the
morning with a few iso-
lated showers in the
afternoon and evening
followed by light winds.
But then it’s back to
rain on Monday with a
late shower expected,
followed by another wet
Tuesday.
Possible showers are
expected to continue
late into next week and
temperatures aren’t
expected to exceed 30
degrees Celsius until
Monday.
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Tamworth Regional
Council crews were out
monitoring conditions
and reopening those
they could.
At 4pm Rangari Rd at
Manilla, Pera Linton Rd
bumburi Creek and
William St at Barraba. AND REFRIGERATION
The Oxley Highway 31 Avro Street, Tamworth TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE
between Tamworth and
Gunnedah remains
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Black soil pain
HOW MANY SHEEP FIT IN
A BOAT? More than 300
lambs valued at more than
$30,000 were rescued
from rising floodwaters by
farmhands and SES
volunteers on the property
Oakey Point, near
Gunnedah.
Residents
‘quite lucky’
Gunnedah
RESIDENTS continued to
feel a little bit of relief at the
weekend, with the excep-
tion of 300 stranded sheep
which were still recovering
from their flood-related tur-
moil yesterday.
The sheep, valued at
about $30,000, were rescued
by 14 farmhands, three SES
boats and a tinny from
the property Oakey
Point, downstream from
Gunnedah, at Baan Baa on
Saturday.
They had been stranded
on a newly formed island
near Frank Maunder’s prop-
erty before they were safely
rounded up and herded into
■ continued page 3
Tamworth farewells prominent citizen: Page 4
INUNDATED: One of the many homes in the northern part of the
Moree that were ravaged by floodwaters.
MORE
FLOOD The big clean-up begins
PHOTOS Moree ber of safety checks before resi-
dents go home and that process is
PAGES By Jacqueline van Aanholt
THE enormity of the clean-up for
expected to continue until at least
(this) afternoon.”
The condition of a number of
3,4,5 Moree residents began to hit
home for many yesterday.
local roads meant some residents
were forced to stay longer in evac-
A number of residents in the
uation centres.
northern part of the town were
“We want to ensure, when we
allowed back to their homes after
do allow people to return to their
2pm on Saturday, but work to
homes, they have water, power
make them livable was another
and other facilities available to
story.
them, but we also want to make
SES volunteers and council
sure they can get there safely; as
workers were yesterday assigned part of that process, a number of
the task of helping residents rip
roads are in the process of being
up carpet and pull out soggy fixed so more residents can return
furniture.
home,” she said.
SES media officer Sam Colwell Moree Plains Shire Council
told The Leader yesterday resi-
mayor Katrina Humphries told
dents and business in the areas The Leader that while residents
bounded by Albert and Boundary
knew there was a big task ahead
streets, Frome St and the Gwydir when it came to cleaning up and
Highway had been allowed to
the smell of the floods continued
return home. to linger, residents were in phe-
“How many of those residents
nomenal spirits.
will not be able to live in their “A number of
homes upon their return and fol-
Rural Fire Service
lowing the clean-up is not known
FOLLOWING THE RULES: Gunnedah resident Robert Davidson, of Maitland St, ■ continued
was determined not to let the flooding get to him. Photo: Peter Lorimer at this stage,” she said.
“Council is conducting a num-
page 4
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Latest Positively
flood fabulous
of the year update Cast reunited to mark
3 6, 7 20-year anniversary 119

‘Back to
bearable’
Sun shines on a
muddy Monday
CLEAN-UP BEGINS: Volunteers helping
remove damaged household items in
Moree. Photo: Cady Andersen
in Moree
By Jacqueline van Aanholt One of the first priorities has been Narrabri and Gwydir shires could be as electricity for at least 48 hours. position now where we want life to
to get the central business district entitled to the Australian Govern- Moree Plains mayor Katrina go back to normal,” she said.
MUD, mosquitoes, snakes, and the
smell that lingers after an inunda- open so the town can begin to func- ment Disaster Recovery Payment Humphries said the stench that had Yesterday more of the estimated
tion of water are all being contend- tion again and shopkeepers and res- (AGDRP), which will be made avail- been lingering in the northern part 300 people affected by floodwaters
ed with as residents of the Moree idents can get their lives back to able through Centrelink. of the town as it dried out on Sunday began to return home.
district begin the long and painstak- normal. The AGDRP is a one-off payment had dissipated yesterday morning “Other areas in the north have
ing task of cleaning up after one of Today, Governor General of $1000 per adult and $400 per and was “back to bearable”, thanks been opening up,” Cr Humphries
the worst floods in more than half a Quentin Bryce will visit Moree to child. to a welcome warm change in said.
century. offer support as the multi-million Those who qualify for the assis- weather. “Many of those people are return-
State Emergency Service crews, dollar clean-up continues. tance include people whose homes Cr Humphries said residents in ing to their homes under duress and
Rural Fire Service volunteers and an Yesterday the federal government have been significantly damaged, the most flood-affected area, north there are still a number of people
army of citizens are helping one announced additional disaster who were stranded inside or outside Moree, remained in good spirits and who can’t go home.
another as the long and emotional assistance for communities hit by their home for at least 24 hours, or there was an attitude of getting in “Despite that, we are all in good
job of getting Moree back to normal the flooding. whose principal place of residence and getting the clean-up done. spirits.”
gathers momentum. Residents in the Moree Plains, was without essential services such “As a town we are are all in this ■ continued page 2

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 6 Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Bail for Armidale
stabbing suspect
A WOMAN charged over a stabbing in
Armidale at the weekend was granted
conditional bail in court yesterday.
Cherylee Webster, 37, pleaded not guilty
to reckless wounding and assault occa-
sioning actual bodily harm after she was
arrested on Saturday afternoon following
a domestic incident.
Officers attended the Golgotha St home
at 4pm, where a man was found suffering
lacerations to his shoulder.
A knife was seized from the scene and
Webster was arrested and subsequently
charged.
She’ll reappear on March 19.
Woman interviewed
over knife incident
A GUNNEDAH woman was being inter-
viewed by police last night over a stabbing
which left a woman with serious injuries
yesterday.
A 33-year-old woman was reportedly
stabbed three times in her arm with a
kitchen knife at a Hunter St home just
before noon.
She was taken to Gunnedah hospital
where she was treated for serious wounds
to her arm and later transferred to Tam-
worth hospital.
Police said it was possible the woman
may need skin graft treatment to her
injured arm.
General duties police established a
crime scene at the Hunter St home while
forensic officers examined the area.
A 28-year-old woman was arrested at a
Gunnedah home by officers yesterday.
She was still being interviewed with
possible charges to be laid.
NORTHERN FLOOD WATCH: THE WASH-UP
Gunnedah plays
the waiting game
By Lyndsay Jameson
GUNNEDAH Shire Council will
be kept busy cleaning debris
from recently flooded crossings,
but like many councils will have
to wait for waters to recede before
the extent of roads damage is
known.
Council general manager
Robert Campbell said the shire
was “reasonably fortunate” to
come out of the floods relatively
unscathed, with no forced evacu-
ations taking place.
About two or three voluntary
evacuations were carried out,
with a lot of properties in the
Bloomfield St part of town signif-
icantly affected.
A major point of access, the
Oxley Highway at Carroll, is open,
as is the Kamilaroi Highway to
Boggabri.
However, Mr Campbell said
Kelvin Rd at Cohens Bridge still
had “quite a bit of water over it”.
Releases from Lake Keepit will
have some effect on the level of
the Namoi River in town.
“We’re pretty right. Compared
to the unfortunate situation at
Moree and the up-and-coming
worsening situation at St George
(in Queensland), we’ve come out
of this reasonably well,” he said.
“It could’ve been a lot worse.
“Everything’s functioning. All
of our services are up and run-
ning and the water’s certainly still
dropping.
“But we will have several hun-
dred thousand dollars’ of increas-
es in our road damage. That
relates to the pre-existing dam-
age that we had before (from the
November 2011 floods).”
He predicted the shire would
face a $400,000 bill for road
repairs, but it could be more.
“We don’t know until we’ve
done the details of the roads.
Until we know what the true
damage is ... it may be more than
that. We’ve already got $1.2 mil-
lion worth of damage from late
last year,” Mr Campbell said.
He said last week’s floods came
at a bad time, as council was tak-
ing steps to get damage from
November repaired.
“One of the problems we have,
of course, is that we can’t get into
http://www.northerndailyleader.com.au
a lot of the major, substantial
works ... until we have the final
assessment approved from the
RTA. We can’t do much by way of
substantial repairs until we get
our final sign-off,” Mr Campbell
said.
“We won’t get funding for
everything, obviously. It will cost
our community for the works we
can’t get funding for, so we’re hop-
ing for as much as possible to
cover that damage.”
Council crews patch up the roads
CLEARING road debris and patching
continued to be a high priority for
Tamworth Regional Council road
crews during the course of the
weekend and into yesterday.
Inspections on a number of rural
roads were also under way.
Rain experienced across the
council region last week caused
thousands of dollars of damage to
the road network.
Sixteen roads closed to vehicles
at the end of last week were re-
opened to traffic yesterday.
A further six remained closed:
Appleby Ln, Appleby; Burgmanns Ln
Warning to residents
AS THE floodwaters recede Essential
Energy has issued an urgent safety warn-
ing to residents in affected areas to
remind them that water and electricity do
not mix, and that combined they have the
potential to kill.
Essential Energy’s regional general
manager, Matt Patterson, reminded resi-
dents in impacted areas that if Essential
Energy has turned the power off to your
home or business you must not, under
any circumstances, try to turn the power
back on yourself.
“If Essential Energy has turned the
power off, and you now think it may be
safe to turn it back on, please contact us
on 13 20 80 and we will send one of our
crews to undertake testing to ensure it
can be safely restored,” Mr Patterson said.
Residents who have turned the power
off themselves need to ensure the flood
water has not touched any internal elec-
trical infrastructure, such as power
points, switches and switchboards.
at Goonoo Goonoo Creek, Tam-
worth; Duri -Dungowan Rd at
Tongues Ln, Loomberah; Halls
Creek Rd, Halls Creek; Locks Ln,
Tamworth and Warral Rd at Tim-
bumburi Creek, Warral.
The Crawney Rd, Starrs Crossing,
Timor also remained closed south
of the Isis River at the southern
foot of Mount Crawney to vehicles
greater than six tonne.
Road crews in Tamworth were
working busily at Forest Rd yester-
day morning to fill pot holes and
another crew was working along the
Oxley Highway toward Somerton.
 northerndailyleader.com.au
http://www.n
PATCHWORK: Council crews are busy repairing the region’s roads.
Relief money available
PEOPLE affected by recent flooding in
the Moree, Gwydir and Narrabri areas
can apply for assistance through the
Australian Government Disaster
Relief Payment.
The assistance provides a one-off
disaster-relief payment of $1000 for
adults and $400 for children for peo-
ple who have been adversely affected
by the floods.
Strict criteria will apply to ensure
only people directly affected will
receive the payment.
Member for Parkes Mark Coulton
said last week’s floods were some of
the biggest the region had experi-
enced in many years.
“Thousands of people have been
displaced and disrupted by this flood-
ing. This payment will take some of
the financial pressure off families and
individuals. It will help them get back
on their feet and assist in purchasing
essential items,” Mr Coulton said.
NORTHERN FLOOD WATCH: THE WASH-UP
“The clean-up effort will be huge
and costly.”
The payment will help eligible peo-
ple whose residence has been signifi-
cantly damaged; who were stranded
within their home or unable to gain
access to their residence for at least 24
hours; or whose principal place of res-
idence was without electricity, water,
gas, sewerage or another essential
service for at least 48 hours.
The assistance will be delivered
through Centrelink.
Further assistance is available for
all declared local government areas in
the form of personal hardship and
distress assistance; primary produc-
ers loans; primary producers trans-
port subsidies; small businesses
loans; assistance for councils and
trustees of parks and reserves; and
loans and grants to churches, volun-
tary non-profit organisations and
sporting clubs.
Narrabri mayor
calls for ‘big cash’
By Lyndsay Jameson
IT’S hot, humid and muddy in
Narrabri and residents are just sick
of the sight of water everywhere,
according to shire mayor Robyn
Faber.
The Namoi River peaked in the
town about 7.1m on Sunday and
predictions are the shire’s roads will
have sustained serious damage – on
top of the damage from the floods
from November last year.
“We’re all just sick of it at the
moment. It’s really steamy and hor-
rible; it’s like a sauna out there at the
moment,” Cr Faber said.
“We need the water to go down so
we can see how bad the damage is to
the roads system. We still haven’t
even done the assessment for the
(flood) in November. It’s going to be
massive.
“From what I can see where the
water came through in the flash part
of this flood, it’s just gouged the bot-
tom out of roads. It didn’t just take
gravel off, it ... caused washaways.
“We’re going to have a pretty mas-
sive bill. It’s a pretty big task; it’s going
to be beyond our capability, even if
we had the money.”
She said the government needed
to spend money on building infra-
structure such as metre-high cul-
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Stay away from rooftop solar panels
HOME owners have been urged to
be extremely careful around solar
panel installations if they are forced
onto their rooftops due to flooding.
Master Electricians Australia NSW
state manager Jody McGann said
solar panels would continue produc-
ing electricity during flood events –
even if the distributor had cut off
the power supply or if the panels
had been switched off at the
switchboard.
“In most cases, energy distributors
disconnect affected homes from
verts on the region’s highways, to
enable floodwaters to flow under,
rather than over, roads.
“It’s time, when governments help
us for flood repairs, to give us some
money to repair them so they don’t
get washed away,” Cr Faber said.
“Stop throwing good money after
bad and let’s take the time and fix
these things properly and enable us
to keep moving.”
She predicts the repair bill for
flood-damaged roads in the
Narrabri and Moree Plains shires to
total $40 million, due to combined
damage from floods in November
last year.
“We really need a bit of focus on
forourfuture
7
the electricity grid at the onset of
flooding,” Mrs McGann said.
“But we’re reminding home owners
who’ve installed rooftop solar pan-
els that those panels will continue
producing electricity independently
of the grid.
“This creates a very dangerous situ-
ation for home owners who are
forced onto their rooftops clear of
floodwaters, as the solar panel and
associated wiring is still live.
“We urge people to stay safe and
stay away from their solar panels.”
our area. We don’t just mean assis-
tance with a bit of interest relief for
businesses – we really need some
infrastructure. In reality we need big
dollars,” she said.
While Narrabri has yet to see the
last of the floodwaters from the Tam-
worth region, she said she expected
the Namoi River to stay at about the
level it was yesterday before it start-
ed to slowly recede.
“Everyone’s in mop-up mode,”
she said.
“The council will be going around
trying to collect wrecked stuff from
houses and things this week.”
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 NE3151245

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Road to recovery
It won’t be easy,
it won’t be cheap
THE damage bill caused by serious
flooding in the North West could
hit $1 billion, with agricultural
losses conservatively estimated to be
$750 million.
Yesterday, the NSW government said
the bill for flood damage around Moree
could run into the hundreds of millions
of dollars alone, but the extent of dam-
age was still being assessed.
In some parts of the region, roads and
bridges have been destroyed. Livestock (DPI) flood incident con-
troller Simon Oliver said up
SURFACES
WASHED
AWAY: A
local inspects
the damage
caused to the
numbering in the tens of thousands
have been classified as at risk, as stock to 10,000 sheep had most Gwydir
losses continue to mount. likely been lost in the flood- Highway bridge
As floodwaters from Queensland and waters, while extensive dam- at Gravesend,
age to crops, pastures and between Moree
the North West slowly flow towards
infrastructure was also being and Inverell.
western NSW townships such as Wal- Photo: Simone
gett and Bourke, farmers are already recorded. Duff, Moree
counting the cost of flooding around A further 100,000 animals in areas Champion
Moree and in the Brewarrina district. downstream were also at risk, and the
Department of Primary Industries ■ continued page 2

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