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Reece D’Alessandro is a reporter with The Today Show and Channel 9 News and is on the ground in Ingham and told 96five’s Ken & Nicky that although TC Niran was moving away from the coast, the system was intesifying.
“As it intensifies today we’re expecting the winds to pick up north and south of Cairns, so all eyes are on where this cyclone will end up, it’s really anyone’s guess at this point. Forecasters do expect it to develop into a Category 2 system by tomorrow and possibly a Category 3 by as early as tomorrow night.”
Reece said that the locals were well prepared for any flash flooding the system may bring.
Residents of New South Wales are being warned of severe weather including large hailstone and flash floods as a band of powerful storms spread across the state.
Sydney may see up to 10mm of rainfall as storms pass over the state s west and head out to sea.
However much of the heavier falls are to be expected north of NSW s capital, with current radars suggesting Tamworth and Kempsey to be the hardest hit about 6pm.
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Orange, Mudgee, Bathurst, Gunnedah, Dubbo and Parkes are likely to be impacted by damaging winds and heavy rainfall this afternoon.
A fresh warning for large hailstones is in place for Port Macquarie, Taree, Armidale, Tamworth, Moree and Lightning Ridge.
The northern NSW city of Lismore has been declared a natural disaster area after heavy rain and floods caused an estimated $20 million of damage.
Locals were caught off guard when a month s worth of rain fell in just two hours yesterday.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian were briefed by the SES before making the natural disaster declaration today, paving the way for the area to receive emergency funds.
Mr Morrison said Lismore was a very resilient community .
Flood warnings are in place for Lismore while NSW braces for severe storms later today.(Reece D Alessandro)
More flood warnings have been issued across as residents try to mop up after a torrential deluge battered the region.
A trough is generating storms, some severe, over eastern parts of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland.
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More rain is forecast across NSW today after parts of the Northern Rivers was flooded yesterday.(Josh Dye)
In NSW, a severe storm warning is in place for a large part of the state with damaging winds also expected to hit the Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast.
The conditions come after low-lying areas of the NSW Northern Rivers to become submerged after a deluge of more than 200mm of rain in a period of about seven hours.