Ungarie residents were issued an evacuation order on Tuesday after Humbug Creek rose rapidly overnight.
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The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) issued the order at 9.30am after recent rainfall and flows into Humbug Creek pushed the waterway past its limits.
The creek rose half a metre in the space of four hours at the town’s bridge, going from 1.1m at 2am to 1.6m when the sun rose, residents say. It is understood the waters reached the main street and some low-lying homes and businesses.
The order affects low-lying homes in Euglo Street and homes and businesses in Woolongough Street, the main street of Ungarie. The order came less than 24 hours after a flood evacuation warning from the SES.
A handful of homes and businesses had been affected by the floodwaters, but the waters were slowly rising in what is a complicated flood system, an SES spokesman said on Tuesday morning.
“A couple of residents have already left of their own volition and are staying with family or friends,” spokesman Phil Campbell said.
“We’ve had SES and Volunteer Rescue Association volunteers out there helping over the last couple of days, lifting furniture and sandbagging.”
An SES crew was brought in from Cowra on Monday to assist with sandbagging and to monitor the situation.
Ungarie Central School students were sent home on Monday morning with floodwaters apparently reaching the grounds.
The school posted several photos on its Facebook page on Tuesday morning, updating parents and students that it would be another day of no lessons.
“The situation remains the same this morning,” the school commented on a prior post from relieving principal Terrie Payne, updating parents on the situation.
Police warned motorists across the area to use common sense this week and not just rely on road closures to warn them of danger.
“With flooding events in and around the area councils may be inundated with jobs and may not be able to close roads immediately,” Chief Inspector John Wadsworth from Griffith Local Area Command said.
“We’ve seen the tragedies in northern NSW recently where people took a punt and drove through flood waters and lost their lives.”
Last Friday, researchers at the University of New South Wales demonstrated cars could be swept away easier than people in flooded water.
