Dozens of warnings for wind damage, flash flooding and coastal erosion

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Let's check in on some of the residents dealing with the severe weather gripping the New South Wales coast. Emilio Ferrer lives in Currarong in the Shoalhaven area. He says the town is an island at the moment with many residents unable to leave.

Transcript

00:00Normally we're a peninsula, and frankly that's the way we like it, but at the moment one

00:06of the local creeks has overflown the road, and because there's only one road in and out,

00:11you can kind of get out, but you know, it's a risky thing.

00:14I think if the SES was here, they would actually tell nobody to actually cross what is fundamentally

00:21a current across the road.

00:24So that's actually, that's a worry, yes, we are in Hawaii an island, and people are coming

00:29in and out, but they're really doing something probably that is dangerous.

00:34We're just hoping that the weather changes tomorrow to see if the water can recede.

00:39Yeah, absolutely, we should not be driving through floodwaters, that's for sure.

00:43Just tell us a little bit about Kurarong, Emilio.

00:46For those unfamiliar, where exactly are you, and how many people live in town?

00:50Right, well, Kurarong is in the Jarvis Bay area, in the Biggeroth Peninsula.

00:56About 400 to 500 people live here permanently, and of course, a lot of people have holiday

01:01houses here, and during the summer period, the population probably is five or six times

01:07that amount.

01:09So the population is also quite ageing, okay, which makes the idea of being isolated even

01:17more worrying.

01:19We're actually very disappointed in Hawaii, because even though governments and councils

01:23are not responsible for extreme weather events, this particular issue about the creek overflowing

01:30is something that is preventable.

01:32The council has a solution for it, but it says it has no funding, and Kararong is not

01:37a priority.

01:38So we would actually like to ask Shoalhaven Council, please, please, please rise the road

01:44day, because this has actually happened six times in the last 18 months.

01:49And how have you managed the last few times that the area has flooded?

01:53Well, people, I think people take a risk, mostly take a risk.

01:57The people that have big four-wheel drives are probably taking less of a risk.

02:02They are residents that don't have high costs, and I guess they rely on other people to go

02:08and do things for them.

02:09But as I said, the population is actually ageing, and people need to go to the doctor, to the

02:13pharmacy.

02:14It's not always possible for them to actually do it.

02:17So normally, this actually stays for two or three days.

02:21This time it might be a little bit longer, because it's still raining.

02:24It's still raining and very windy here.

02:27You've obviously got power yourself now, but have you lost power over the last couple

02:32of days?

02:33Or seen much damage?

02:34No.

02:35Fortunately, we haven't lost power.

02:36This is a thing that has not actually happened, which is actually good, because that would be

02:42like the icing in the cake in terms of being isolated and not having power.

02:48But we're just really hoping.

02:49Today, the wind is actually being horrifying here.

02:52Yeah.

02:53Do you have any idea how long you might be cut off?

02:57You said it's still raining there.

02:58So what is it going to mean for people over the next couple of days?

03:01Right.

03:02Well, traditionally, when the creek overflows the road, it stays like this for two or three

03:08days.

03:09It depends when it stops raining, but it's also because it's a tidal creek, it also depends

03:13on the tide.

03:14When it's high tide, there's actually more water flowing.

03:18It's an issue that really has to be addressed.

03:20I mean, there's actually, we have a single road to come to Kararang, and there's flooding everywhere.

03:25But this is more than flooding.

03:27This is actually a current, a river, like a little river that is actually taken over

03:32the road.

03:33And I'm very concerned that people are crossing, but they shouldn't be crossing.

03:38But on the other hand, if they have something to do, they have to actually attend to what

03:44they have to do.

03:45So I would really call on Chokhaven Council, please fix that bit of the road.

03:51You have the engineering work done.

03:53All you have to do is see it as a priority, because really, in a community that has one

03:58road in and out, it's hard to believe that this is not a priority.

04:01So that's this is a priority.

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