Information current as at 8.30am 6th March 2025
Well, we are right in the midst of a very big weather event in our region, just a few days out from the third anniversary of the 2022 floods that are still so fresh in our minds.
Fortunately, we’ve had a much longer lead time and we’re seeing a lot more preparedness in our community and the SES, BOM and Tweed Shire Council have been issuing us all with very regular updates.
Right now, Council has closed many of their services, and schools across the region are closed.
As SES NSW wrote in a recent post on social media: We are facing three natural disasters in one with a combination of gale-force winds, heavy rainfall, and widespread flooding expected over the coming days.DESTRUCTIVE WINDS are expected to cause significant damage, possibly bringing down trees, powerlines, and damaging buildings. Once the winds subside, HEAVY RAINFALL will lead to moderate to major flooding in areas from Taree to Tweed Heads.
Here are some things you can do to prepare and make sure you stay safe:
As a starting point, secure items around your home including bins, outdoor furniture and pot plants, remove any debris around outside and aim to store 10L of drinking water per person per day for 3 days supply in preparation of power outages or interruptions to water supply.It is essential to prepare yourself and your home/property/family including animals for the possibility of damaging winds, heavy rain and, if you’re in a low-lying area, flooding. And make an emergency kit even if you’re not in a flood-prone area (i.e. if your house sustains damage, you may need to leave) There are lots of tips to help you to do that here.
We’re not used to cyclones in this region! Some additional things you can do to prepare for a cyclone are listed here (but remember that is a Qld site so some of the extra links won’t be so relevant to us).
Follow the advice in SES warnings… download the Hazards Near Me app and keep an eye on alerts in your area. You can also see current warnings at ses.nsw.gov
Save the Tweed Emergency Dashboard to your homescreen: https://emergency.tweed.nsw.gov.au/home
THIS HAS JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU NEED — rainfall, river heights, links to all the key agencies, warnings, etc.
Check out our Useful Apps & Links page to make sure you Avoid driving. If you have to travel, remember the Tweed Flood Monitoring Cameras provide regular updates (every 15mins) at a range of pressure points on our roads that commonly flood.
If you need to evacuate and you can’t get to friends/family to stay with there are evacuation centres setup across the region, including in Uki Hall. See all evac centre details here.
Check in with your neighbours. If you have a neighbour who lives alone or is vulnerable in some way, please check in with them to see if they might need help moving things or getting prepared. Helping others can also help to alleviate our own fears/worries.
If our area becomes cut-off/isolated and regular communications channels go down, we have a neighbourhood UHF radio/alternative communications system set up. Get information about that here.
Look after your mental health: There’s a lot of fear and anxiety across the region right now. It is a good idea to try not to get too absorbed in ‘doom scrolling’ on social media. While it is a great source of local knowledge (flooded roads, etc.), it can feed a feeling of anxiety and emotional contagion so if you’re feeling anxious, maybe limit how frequently you check socials.
Here are a few Facebook pages you might want to follow to stay updated.
Caldera Community Emergency Support Page.
Northern Rivers SES Facebook Page
Murwillumbah SES Facebook Page
Tweed Shire Council Facebook Page
ABC Radio is the national emergency broadcaster and their local channel is ABC 94.5 FM
Listen live to local ABC online