Severe weather warning issued for the weekend

Published on 11 December 2020

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued a severe weather warning for the Northern Rivers and Byron Coast this weekend.

Heavy rainfall is forecast for parts of the Northern Rivers and a strong wind warning has been issued for the Byron Coast.

A minor flood warning has been issued for the Brunswick and Marshalls Creek catchments.

Big swells and high tides are expected this weekend and early into next week which could have an impact on the already eroded beaches at Main Beach and Clarkes Beach.

Council’s ICOLL team has sought and been given permission to scrape the berm at the Belongil Creek creek mouth this afternoon, to support a natural opening.

“With relatively calm conditions this afternoon, the team have decided to scrape the berm while it is accessible for the excavator,” Director of Infrastructure Services Phil Holloway said.

“While we hope a natural opening occurs, supported by the heavy rainfall overnight, a second scrape may be required tomorrow.”

It is believed Tallow Creek will breach naturally as a result of this weather event.

People are being asked to stay away from the beaches and where necessary Council will be closing beach access paths.

“These warnings and the closure of public areas are done with safety in mind so we ask that people heed them when deciding whether to swim, surf or go onto the beach,” Mr Holloway said.

Council is not the agency responsible for the Clarkes Beach Holiday Park and the Beach Byron Café at Clarkes Beach with these areas managed by Reflections and NSW Crown Lands respectively.

Byron Shire residents are asked to prepare for the wet weather and keep an eye on warnings from the BoM and the State Emergency Service. 

The new Byron Shire Emergency Dashboard has direct links to these agencies and people should bookmark the website emergency.byron.nsw.gov.au. It offers direct access to the latest information from the SES and BoM websites as well as their Facebook feeds.

For help during floods and storms people should call the SES on 132 500.