Ballina flood evacuation: emergency orders issued for NSW coastal town as waters rise

An evacuation order has been issued for the town of Ballina on the New South Wales north coast as the flood emergency moves south.

The State Emergency Service issued the alert to South Ballina in the early hours of Tuesday morning. By 7am it said it was too late to move people away from the town and instead advised people in low-lying areas to move to higher ground.

People have been warned to take their pets, warm clothes, any medication they need, and insurance documents and move to the highest place in their area if safe to do so, and keep moving as the water rises.

In the past 18 hours there have also been evacuation orders issued for Casino, Lawrence, Tweed Heads, East Bellingen, Woodburn and Swan Bay, Maclean, Broadwater and Cabbage Tree Island.

Krieg told Channel Seven on Tuesday morning that nine people were still unaccounted for and 400 people were waiting to be rescued.

There are 70 Australian defence force personnel aiding with emergency response efforts in Lismore, with 100 more being deployed on Tuesday.

The danger is now moving to Ballina, where the SES has said up to 7,000 homes could be inundated. The Ballina shire council mayor, Sharon Cadwallader, told the ABC the town was expecting a one-in-500-year flood.

New flood records were also set along the Tweed River, which peaked at 6.51m at North Murwillumbah, 4.8m at Tumbulgum and 2.95m at Chinderah.

At Grafton, the Clarence River peaked at 7.66m, just below the levee height of 7.95m. Flood waters just topped the levee at Ulmarra and are expected to remain below the levee at Maclean.