Weather update 2 Sunday 13 December 2020

Published on 13 December 2020

Byron Shire residents are warned to expect more heavy rain from later tonight.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued an update to its severe weather warning for damaging winds, heavy rainfall, abnormally high tides and damaging surf for the people in the Northern Rivers area, along with parts of the Mid North Coast and the Northern Tablelands districts.

The BOM said that at this stage the widespread heavy rain is expected to ease late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Minor flood warnings remain in place for Billinudgel and Mullumbimby and will be updated by the SES if necessary.  

The SES has warned people to be aware and prepared for the possibility of flash flooding in low-lying residential areas and on roads.

A total of 246mm of rain was has been recorded at Mullumbimby in the 24 hours to 9am today.

Many roads across the Shire are flooded and people are asked to take extreme care on the roads and not travel through flood water.

Upper Main Arm Road is closed because the temporary access tracks at causeways 12 and 14, near the Kohinur hall on Upper Main Arm Road, have been damaged.

Council will not be able to assess or repair the damage until the flood waters recede.

A hazardous surf warning for the Byron coast also remains in place and large seas coupled with very high tides have already caused further erosion on beaches at Byron Bay.

Tallow Creek at Suffolk Park has opened to the ocean naturally.

The entrance to Belongil Creek has also opened after Council staff today again scraped the sand bar to encourage the creek to open to the ocean to reduce flooding in the Belongil catchment.

Council initially scraped the sandbar on Friday afternoon but the attempt to allow the creek to open naturally was unsuccessful, necessitating further work today.

Council staff are rostered on 24hrs and are monitoring drainage systems and clearing blockages.  People who see blocked drains are asked to contact Council’s emergency after hours number - 6622 7022.

Byron Shire residents are asked to 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 will have 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.

Byron Shire Emergency Dashboard

The Byron Shire Emergency Dashboard has direct links to the latest information from the BOM, SES, Essential Energy and other agencies.  People are asked to save emergency.byron.nsw.gov.au as a bookmark as a quick and easy way to find information about weather, flooding and roads.

Road closures

Some roads are flooded and will quickly be affected by further rainfall.  People can find information at emergency.byron.nsw.gov.au or www.myroadinfo.com.au.

To report local road closures or trees and debris on roads call Council’s emergency after hours number 6622 7022.

For help during floods and storms – call the SES on 132 500

People needing help during floods and storms should call the SES on 132 500. 

Weather updates

The latest information from the BOM is available at www.bom.gov.au or emergency.byron.nsw.gov.au.

Emergency radio station

The Emergency broadcaster for the Byron Shire is ABC North Coast – 94.5FM or 720AM (Murwillumbah area).

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