Improvement in weather conditions in New South Wales

Our Incident Management team based in New South Wales to assist with severe flooding reports that the last two days has seen an easing of the response to the floods as fine weather conditions have continued.

There were zero flood rescues in the past 24 hours, with the focus now on re-supply and support of isolated communities and continued preparatory works for the town of Hillston.

The height of the Lachlan River at Hillston has yet to go above 3.3m, with the Bureau of Meteorology lowering its’ predicted peak over the weekend from 3.5m to 3.35m. This has led to discussions amongst the IMT about the response there, and a potential removal of the ‘Prepare to Evacuate’ warning.

The team says that last Friday was Incident Controller Stuart Fisher's final day with them.

‘Stuart has been very impressed with the ability of the IMT to thrive through the many challenges posed this past week. We'll all miss Stuart's sense of humour and direct approach, but look forward to welcoming Ken Murphy back, who was an Incident Controller during Alpha's deployment.’

The wider SES team in Hillston has received overwhelmingly positive feedback for its efforts on the ground in informing the community of the situation. Below is a snapshot of comments on a Facebook post last Friday morning.

The team will be replaced by a third rotation IMT tomorrow.

Photos of the bridge to the Lachlan River "walking track" in Hillston and sandbags in Hillston.