Small town receives "one in a thousand year" flood warning
With water levels continuing to rise during a "one-in-a-1000-year" flooding event on the NSW far-north coast, locals are being warned not to be complacent.
Ballina Lord Mayor Sharon Cadwallader told Today she had a sleepless night at a local evacuation centre, fielding calls from her anxious community about what the freak weather event would do next.
"Water is unpredictable - you really don't know what it's going to do today," said Mayor Cadwallader
"It is an evolving situation so we're monitoring it very closely. We've got some excellent staff working on this as we speak. We really don't know."
Ms Cadwallader warns with the volume of water coming down the Wilsons and Richmond rivers, evacuations were a necessary precaution.
"We can't rest on our laurels or become complacent about this - Sometimes in Ballina we do see high tides and water build-up in some of our streets," she said.
"But not like this. We don't want people to think this is a normal event - It is far from a normal event, it's a one-in-1000-year flood, in fact."
Authorities remain fearful the Richmond River will break its banks, with water continuing to spill over and flood the streets of Ballina. Emergency crews have been sandbagging and water could reach up to one metre at street-level.
The SES is warning of life-threatening flooding over the next 24 hours with the Ballina Hospital already evacuated overnight.
Images: Getty