The only printer in Forbes says there is more bad news on the way for the community while it battles the biggest flood in the area’s history, with further rainfall expected later in the week.
Tom Dwyer, owner of Court Press says while the flood waters have not reached his shop front, he has seen business slow down.
“Our shop is situated on Court Street which is still high and dry, but the people of the town are not able to get out and do their shopping, but when everything gets back in the swing of it the people will come back,” he tells Australian Printer.
Dwyer says farmers in the area are going to be the hardest hit, which could impact the economy of the town.
“Obviously this being a rural based area, the flood is going to have an impact down the track,” he says.
“This is going to impact on the farmer’s income because a lot of their crops have been flooded, it is going to be quite devastating for some of them.
“It is going to have a knock on effect on my business because the farmers buy from the dealers and the dealers buy from me.”
Residents of central western NSW woke this morning to learn the Lachlan River at Forbes Iron Bridge peaked at 10.67 metres last night, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).
BOM reports major flooding is slightly higher than the August 1990 floods which washed through the area and saw 132 homes inundated.
Acting deputy commissioner Mark Morrow says an evacuation order for the Forbes area will remain in place until emergency services determine it is safe for residents to return to their homes.
“One of the problems we have had, we have looked at the 1990 flood, the 2012 flood and this flood has behaved differently to that. It has gone slower and to different places,” Morrow says.
“That has obviously rocked the confidence of the community a little bit in terms of telling them to do things under that evacuation order, and they have not responded as well as we would have liked.”
State Emergency Service (SES) operations controller Nicole Hogan is urging residents to avoid driving through flood waters and to be prepared for more flooding.
“Given there is more rain actually coming we expect that these flood operations will continue for the next six to eight weeks due to the fact that a number of rivers remain high,” she says.
“What the impact is later in the week with that particular rain fall is still unknown at this stage in time.”
The SES is reporting 15 to 20 homes have already been inundated.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
