LOCALS have been dispatched to assist in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Debbie, while other crews bunker down for bad weather forecast to ravage the New England this week.
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Tropical Cyclone Debbie left almost 50,000 people without power as wind gusts stronger than 260km/h and a deluge of torrential rain slaughtered hundreds of homes and buildings when the category four system crossed the coast of North Queensland on Tuesday.
NSW State Emergency Service (SES) Namoi Region Controller Andrew Galvin said specialist volunteers from Tamworth, Narrabri and Armidale, have been deployed to assist in the clean-up of Cyclone Debbie.
“We have specialist personnel trained in rapid damage assistance (dispatched to North Queensland),” Mr Galvin said.
“The idea is for them to gather as much intelligence as possible and report directly to Queensland (emergency crews) to direct resources.”
Cyclone Debbie was downgraded to a tropical low on Wednesday, but the remnants are set to be felt across the southern parts of Queensland and NSW as torrential rain, flash flooding and strong winds are forecast for New England and the North West.
SES crews are urging local residents to heed these wild-weather warnings.
“We’re preparing for our own severe weather,” Mr Galvin said.
“The main area of our focus is Inverell as it’s a very, very wet catchment area.”
Tamworth is forecast to receive 60mm of rain on Tuesday, Inverell 70mm, Armidale 60mm, Moree 30mm and Goondiwindi 60mm.
“If we get rain at the higher end of the range, flooding could be expected for the Macintyre River (around the Goondiwindi region),” Mr Galvin said.
“There could be severe flash flooding so we’re urging people to exercise caution.
Local SES crews have pre-positioned specialist flood rescue technicians and called in a helicopter to prepare for the expected wild weather.
Essential Energy is also helping clean up after Cyclone Debbie by sending emergency electrical crews, plant and equipment to provide disaster recovery assistance to Ergon Energy after widespread damage.
“About 150 employees from Essential Energy’s Northern and North Coast regions will travel to affected areas to assist Ergon crews to restore power to more than 60,000 customers impacted by the cyclone,” Essential Energy’s General Manager Network Services, Luke Jenner said.
“Essential Energy’s teams will work with Ergon Energy to restore supply and to rebuild infrastructure destroyed by the cyclone.”
