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 Governor-General visits flood-ravaged Moree, Wee Waa 

Governor-General visits flood-ravaged Moree, Wee Waa

08 Feb, 2012 03:00 AM
THE Governor-General Quentin Bryce donned her gumboots to visit flood-ravaged Moree and Wee Waa, where major flooding continued yesterday.

Ms Bryce, accompanied by her husband Michael, visited the town's Max Centre and Recovery Centre in Moree to meet residents and volunteers.

The Governor-General was flown into the flood soaked region by the RAAF plane, on a flight which left Canberra at 8am and her first stop on the trip was Moree's Max Function and Conference Centre, which is under renovation, on Herber St for a flood de-briefing.

Throughout the duration of the flood effort "the Max" has also been a meeting place for a number of different people coordinating the clean-up.

At the Moree recovery centre, which outside of flood time doubles as the Moree Banquet Hall, Ms Bryce was provided firsthand accounts of the experiences and complete devastation the flooding had caused to Moree's residents, before she was given a guided tour of north Moree, where hundreds of residents have only just had power and water resources restored and are continuing the agonising process of cleaning out their homes.

Moree Plains mayor Katrina Humphries said the Governor-General had visited a number of residents in their homes.

"She was mortified by the situation some people were in," Cr Humphries said.

"Coming from rural Queensland and understanding the situation a number of the people are in and how much it has impacted their lives really helped Her Excellency to empathise with residents who have lot so much."

A visit to Yarraman also provided the Governor-General with insight into just how widespread the flooding was.

The impact of the flood on the region's cotton crop, which forms a bulk of Australia's industry, was also highlighted with a visit to Peter Glennie's farm Norwood before Ms Bryce boarded a sea king helicopter to fly over Wee Waa.

The town was inundated by flood waters on Monday but the Namoi River did not peak until 3am on Monday, when it reached seven metres at 3pm.

Prior to the Governor-General arriving yesterday the Namoi River was at 6.99 metres.

The SES reported there was still steady and major flooding throughout the township.

All access roads to Wee Waa remained impassable and the township was still isolated.

The Wee Waa to Narrabri Rd remained closed at the Glencoe Causeway and the town's levee banks continued to be surrounded by floodwaters.

As many as 7000 people in the region remain isolated by flood waters and while the rivers are beginning to subside food and supply drops from helicopters are continuing to be the only lifeline for a number of farmers.

A small amount of relief was provided to residents of the water logged region yesterday with updated forecasts suggesting no rain that would impact on the river heights was expected in the region however, flood warnings remained in place for Narrabri and Wee Waa.

The Namoi peaked in Narrabri at 6.6 metres on Tuesday, causing minor flooding, yesterday lunch time the Narrabri Creek was measured at 5.61 metres and SES reports suggested it was continuing to fall, however water over a number of local roads continued to be a problem.

It is understood minister for emergency services Michael Gallacher and minister for primary industries Katrina Hodgkinson will visit Moree today.

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