Central Coast Council is continuing its close monitoring and tactical response across the Coast today as flooding and storm impacts persist despite slightly easing weather conditions.

While recorded rainfall was lower than Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) forecast overnight, a NSW State Emergency Service (SES) flood evacuation order for residents around Tuggerah Lake and surrounding areas remains. An evacuation centre is established at Diggers at The Entrance, 315 The Entrance Rd, Long Jetty NSW for community members who require shelter or accommodation.

Council remains focused on distributing key information to the community as quickly as possible, while continuing to mobilise crews on the ground as we transition from immediate emergency response to a recovery phase into next week.

Council is encouraging all residents and visitors to remain vigilant and follow the latest advice from NSW SES. Council teams are working closely alongside NSW SES and with communities in impacted regions who may have lost power or road access to ensure they have access to support services.

Please note, in the case of an emergency, Council is not an Emergency Service Provider. Council’s role is to support the lead Emergency Service Provider with resources, people and equipment to assist their emergency and recovery plans.

For emergency help in floods and storms or urgent assistance for impacted properties, call the NSW SES on 132 500.

In life threatening situations call triple zero (000) immediately.

Weather, waterways and beaches

At 11.15am today, Tuggerah lake was recorded at 1.28m following a 1.87m high tide at 10:40am. The BOM flood warning indicates Tuggerah Lake at Long Jetty was expected to peak at around the moderate flood level (1.3m) this afternoon.

At 9.15am today, the Hawkesbury River (at Wisemans Ferry) was recorded at 3.12m and rising, which is currently below the minor flood level (3.5m). However, due to major flooding upstream at Richmond, BOM is forecasting the minor flood level (3.5m) will be reached on the high tide this afternoon. Council expects water levels to rise and debris to pass through the Hawkesbury and arrive on Coast beaches over the coming days.

Rainfall data from Thursday 24 February 2022 shows that we have seen an average total of around 180mm throughout the Tuggerah Lakes catchment over the last  eight days. This is compared to around 440mm in four days that was experienced during the 2020 flood event which saw Tuggerah Lakes peak at 1.67m. Tuggerah Lakes flood levels are driven by catchment rainfall. Although it is important that The Entrance Channel remains open as it has, channel condition is not the driver of peak flood levels.

We are experiencing significant flows coming down our creeks and rivers and with high tides expected to remain, water in our catchments will be slow to drain into the ocean. The current forecast shows lighter rainfall in the next few days. We anticipate that Tuggerah Lake will start to see some minor falls on Sunday and is likely to be back near normal levels by the end of next week.

Council remains in constant communication with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to maintain an accurate understanding of anticipated rainfall, and how this will affect peak lake levels, and will provide updates to the community ongoing.

An east-south-east (ESE) swell of 3.4m and declining is forecast for the rest of the day, however dangerous surf conditions and winds of up to 25km per hour remain along the Central Coast region.

Council is continually monitoring coastal erosion along the Coast's beaches. Small amounts of coastal erosion have been recorded at Soldiers Beach, Lakes Beach, North Entrance Beach and around Terrigal lagoon.

All 15 patrolled Central Coast beaches remain closed. The Grant McBride baths and the ferry at Wisemans Ferry also remain closed.

Pollution alerts are currently in place for a number of Central Coast beaches, head to the Beachwatch website for daily pollution forecasts.

Water

Council data shows the Coast has experienced approximately 100 days of average water supply fall within the last three-day period. While this has caused significant impacts to our community, some positive impacts have come from this downpour: Mangrove Creek Dam is as full as it’s been, currently sitting at 81 percent major storage level.

For all current dam water levels please go to the Love Water website. For all current water service interruptions please go to the Water outages page of our website.

Sewer

Terrigal Lagoon, Wamberal Lagoon, Avoca Lagoon, Cochran Lagoon, Avoca Beach near the SLSC and the outlet of Salt Water Creek have all been affected by sewer overflows and stormwater runoff – Council strongly advises against swimming at these locations and pollution signs are being placed at these locations.

It is advised that recreational activities on all waterways be avoided due to possible pollution risk.

Please note, we’ve also had a sewer rising main break off Koowong Road in Gwandalan overnight. Recreational activities near this part of Lake Macquarie should also be avoided and pollution signs have been placed.

The severe weather experienced across the Central Coast is continuing to impact the sewer system.

Call volumes increase during times of storm events, power outages or localised flooding. Crews respond to issues as quickly as possible in these conditions giving due consideration to changing flood waters and other safety concerns. We continue to prioritise issues relating to recovery and clean-up following the storm with all our available resources being directed to support impacted residents.

If you are in Davistown and are continuing to experience a sewer system disruption please call Council on 1300 463 954. Council has mobilised additional tanker trucks and contractors to assist with recovery of this system. In addition, we have deployed port-a-loos on Lintern Street, Mirreen Avenue, Illoura Reserve (corner of Pine Avenue) and Amy Street.

With any blockage or overflow, our primary concern is the health and safety of the public and our environment. We follow strict procedures to contain and control, then investigate and remediate. You can let us know about an overflow anytime – day or night – by calling 1300 463 954

Waste

Council’s waste management facilities remain open and weekly kerbside bin collections are continuing as normal, however please note, Council is experiencing minor delays due to high demand and severe weather impacts.

For properties located on sections of road currently closed to vehicles, kerbside services will resume as soon as the roads re-open and residents should keep their bins on the kerbside (if safe to do so) until they are collected. Collections will continue over the weekend to service demand as much as possible.

If excess bulk household waste and debris from properties needs to be cleared, residents can book a standard bulk kerbside collection for both excess garden waste and normal bulk waste accepted by 1Coast.

Please do not place your waste on the kerbside until your booking date is confirmed. Up to six general or green waste bulk kerbside collections a year, reset annually on 1 February. For more information head to 1coast.com.au.

Residents impacted by this flood event can also dispose of flood impacted bulk waste directly at one of Council’s two waste management facilities at Woy Woy or Jilliby. For sandbag disposal, split the bags to remove sand and place in your garden where it won’t wash away. Place bags in the red lid garbage bin.

Roads

Council crews have been on the ground all week and working overnight responding to trees town and flood impacts on roads in suburbs around Tuggerah Lake and into the valley region. Over 60 road closures have occurred due to flooding - while some have reopened, many are still closed, please check Council's website for up to date road closures.

Many parts of the Coast have experienced flooding, landslips and fallen trees. Road signs and barriers are in place to advise residents and motorists where storm impacts have occurred – please check Council’s website and avoid these areas where possible over the coming days.

Council is continuing to closely monitor the region’s 2,200km road network and respond urgently to fix potholes, remove fallen trees from roads and inspect and repair any other damage as quickly as possible. 

During this weather event, Council has repaired 2,941 potholes across the Coast. Council’s Emergency Incident Committee is continuing to liaise with Transport NSW to collectively address impacts on roads.

Community members are urged to report any potholes or road damage caused by weather events by calling Council on 1300 463 954 or contacting us online via ‘Report an issue’ page on Council’s website.

For information about road closures search ‘road closures’ at Council's website: centralcoast.nsw.gov.au. For road and traffic updates visit Live Traffic NSW www.livetraffic.com.

Recovery

Throughout the weekend and into next week, Council will be sending further construction crews out to impacted regions across the Coast to mobilise our combined flood and storm recovery efforts.

As we transition from emergency response to recovery phase, Council will continue to provide updates to the community on the support that is available to them.

Council recognises the considerable community effort undertaken to get prepared, and thanks the community for their combined efforts and resilience while also looking out for one another during this weather event.

ENDS