Ballina flood: thousands of homes impacted with ‘peak to continue for a number of hours’

Mayor of northern NSW town calls for help, saying water is still coming full force towards us'

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Six thousand homes in the Ballina area may have been impacted by flood waters, the State Emergency Service says, as prolonged power and phone outages hamper communications.

Flood waters surged in the northern New South Wales coastal town on Tuesday morning, with water bubbling out of the gutters as the 1.8 metre king tide met the swollen Richmond River.