Fire and Rescue NSW continues to support SES operations in the northern flood zones | Kempsey
Published: 24 May 2025 12:00am
Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews continue to assist the State Emergency Service with flood operations on the state’s north and mid-north coasts.
FRNSW crews joined other emergency services last night, carrying out a number of rescues during the SES-led response.
At Taree, 10 local firefighters joined SES and Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) crews in evacuating 70 seniors from a flooded over-55’s retirement village.
The residents were safely relocated to a nearby nursing home.
In another case, a FRNSW In-water crew paddled around four kilometres to reach a man, aged in his 60’s suffering hypothermia, a 32-year-old woman, and their six dogs, trapped on a property near Kempsey.
Another FRNSW crew has reached a couple and a puppy stranded for three days without food and water, at a flooded Kempsey caravan park.
As the firefighters passed a local hotel, they extracted a third person, seeking a move to dry ground.
As emergency services turn to resupplying isolated residents with food and medical supplies, FRNSW’s Aviation unit is assisting by using its Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) or drones to conduct welfare checks.
FRNSW has positioned a ‘hytrans’ bulk water transfer unit in the main street of Kempsey.
That FRNSW crew is pumping five-thousand litres a minute from the flooded street back into the Macleay River.
A few streets away, a FRNSW Strike Team from the state’s Central West has been hosing down the silt-covered car park of a shopping centre.
Media note – Footage of the various FRNSW operations is available here: https://vimeo.com/1087284441/30d9647951?share=copy
Updated: 06 Mar 2026 6:52pm