PLANS were in hand to evacuate the Inverell Caravan Park on the banks of the flooded Macintyre River late yesterday as waters rose towards an anticipated peak of more than four metres.
Emergency service officials told The Leader it would be necessary to evacuate the park if the flood exceeded the 4.3 metre mark.
In a day of high drama the Macintyre broke its banks after up to 100mm of rain fell on sections of the catchment between 10am and 2pm yesterday.
The heaviest falls were recorded around Elsmore and Stannifer.
Serious flash flooding was under way around Elsmore by midday.
This led to four men being airlifted to safety by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter in separate incidents.
After heavy morning showers yesterday, a 57-year-old motorist was caught between two rising creeks at about 1pm on the Silver Mines Rd.
He escaped from the vehicle before it was washed down a causeway.
He was airlifted from a small bitumen island and is believed to have suffered minor injuries.
The helicopter then responded to a distress call from the occupants of an Elsmore farmhouse.
Three men had been cut-off by rising flood waters.
They were also airlifted to dry land.
The State Emergency Service headed the relief efforts.
By 5.30pm yesterday water was already lapping the fenceline of the Inverell Caravan Park.
Park owners Francesca and Adam Paton told The Leader they were prepared for evacuation.
Only one guest was staying in the caravan park at the time.
“It’s very overcast with the storm coming up from the south. Humid and sticky,” Mrs Paton said.
“We have been here for four years but this is the first time we might have to evacuate.”
The park includes eight cabins situated in park-like surrounds.
The Patons spent much of yesterday tying interior fittings and contents down with a tractor on standby to winch the cabins to higher ground.
A second peak was expected to reach the town in the early hours of this morning.
Inverell SES Flood Intelligence Officer David Jones said locals had been stunned by the speed with which the flood emergency had developed.
“This morning people were looking at the sky and it didn’t look like rain,” he said.
By nightfall residents were driving around town to catch a glimpse of the rising floodwaters.
Inverell police were called out to stop at least two kayakers who wanted to take advantage of the situation to hone their whitewater skills.
The SES spent the afternoon responding to calls of leaking roofs and flooded house paddocks.
Mr Jones said Inverell had flooded many times since the town was
established.
The highest recorded flood peak was 6.41 metres in 1872.
A total of 120 homes were flooded in February 1991. The town’s CBD was also inundated in that flood.
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