A group of yachts moored in Emigrant Creek, West Ballina, have come adrift as flood waters surged through the region yesterday.
Local Nick Gazzard said the boats didn’t move in the previous flood, but now ‘four of them have come off their moorings and ended up in a big pile, around the corner.’
This was before this morning’s high tide, and seems to have been a result of intense local flash flooding rather than the water coming down the Richmond.
‘Some guys from Ballina slipway are trying to unentangle them all, and get them back, because the current was too strong yesterday. It also moved a couple of other boats which were on moorings to a completely different location.’
Mr Gazzard says the rain was extremely strong in the recent storm but the floods have been behaving differently so far, at least where his workshop is situated in Broadwater Place.
‘It’s considerably lower but the flow was just incredible,’ he said.
‘To just rip these boats and then move two others, lifting them with their moorings, and repositioning them in the creek. Amazing.’