Floodwater inundate cars on March 30, 2022 in Lismore, Australia. Photo / Getty
One of Australia's most beloved tourist hotspots has been engulfed by floodwaters as wild weather lashes the east coast.
Insane pictures and footage is emerging from iconic Byron Bay, revealing the main street is now underwater.
Rattled residents have shared alarming photos of the carnage on social media, revealing extensive damage.
According to Richmond Labor MP Justine Elliot, whose electorate covers flood zones including Ballina, Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Tweed Heads, Lismore was the only region to receive official SES weather warnings.
But Elliot claims her electorate "urgently" needs evacuation centres in Byron Bay and Ballina as the situation escalates.
Meanwhile, a new evacuation order was issued for Lismore overnight, with residents from the CBD, Lismore Basin, East Lismore and Girards Hill told to leave immediately.
Experts warned earlier that the levee could be breached by around 8am Wednesday morning, with the NSW SES announcing at around 9am that the levee overtopping was "imminent" – but that the sirens would not sound due to a "malfunction".
"Everyone must get out of the CBD immediately," the organisation warned.
The SES also stated in an update that it had been "an incredibly wet and dangerous 24 hours" for the Mid North Coast, with many areas experiencing "heavy to torrential rain as well as flash and riverine flooding".
The areas with the highest rainfall include Bellingen, which has received 305mm, Coffs Harbour at 227mm and Kempsey on 110mm.
It's the second evacuation warning to hit the embattled town in just two days, and comes after locals were free to return on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), "intense rainfall" with thunderstorms are on the way for the region, with severe weather warnings and flood warnings also in place for much of northeast NSW.
But while authorities continue to claim the wild weather is a rare, freak event, public interest environmental lawyer and former CEO and principal solicitor at Environmental Defenders Office Sue Higginson has taken to social media to claim it was the result of a "climate emergency".
In a passionate Twitter post, Higginson urged Australians to "please wake up", warning we were now in a "hybrid cyclone".
"It's frightening. The entire warning system was wrong we are underwater again and being smashed!" she posted.
"Experts said we would experience HYBRID CYCLONES more regularly – the climate has changed.
"Sorry Lismore."
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