Flood Watch Issued for Bellinger, Kalang, Nambucca and Orara Rivers in NSW
This alert is no longer in effect.
BOM issued it on May 17, 2026, 3 months ago. Warnings of this kind stay in effect for hours to a few days, so this page is a historical record of what was issued, not a current warning. For conditions where you are right now, check weather.gov (US), weather.gc.ca (Canada), the Met Office (UK), or the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia).
Areazine synthesizes this BoM weather warning directly from BOM's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a Flood Watch for parts of the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers, with isolated minor flooding possible in several rivers and Coffs Creek.
Read this weather record in 30 seconds
- Record type
- Flood Watch
- Affected area
- Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers, NSW
- Issued
- May 17, 2026
- Issuing authority
- BOM
Flood notices turn on location and timing. Treat the named area as this record's scope; do not assume nearby counties, parishes, or waterways were included.
Record status: historical. It was issued 3 months ago; use the issuing agency's live warning service for current conditions in Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers, NSW.
Alert Details
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a Flood Watch (warning_id: IDN36503) for possible flooding. The alert was issued at 1:43 pm AEST on Sunday 17 May 2026 and expires at 9:43 pm AEST on Monday 18 May 2026.
Affected Areas
The watch covers the Bellinger and Kalang Rivers, Coffs Coast, Nambucca River and Orara River catchments in New South Wales. Specific areas include the Orara River, Coffs Coast, Bellinger and Kalang Rivers, and Nambucca River.
What You Should Do
Don't drive, walk, swim or play in floodwater. Stay away from flooded drains, rivers, streams and waterways. Obey road closure signs and plan ahead to avoid driving on flooded roads. Check ABC and local media for updates. For local emergency management warnings visit www.ses.nsw.gov.au or call SES on 132 500. In life-threatening emergencies, call 000 immediately.
Expected Conditions
A cloud band and trough will produce widespread showers and periods of rain over north east NSW during Monday and Tuesday. Isolated thunderstorms are possible near the north east NSW coast from Sunday. Catchments are relatively wet, with minor flooding possible from thunderstorms in Coffs Creek from overnight Sunday and isolated minor flooding possible in the Orara, Bellinger and Nambucca Rivers from Monday.
Timeline
The Flood Watch is effective from issue at 1:43 pm AEST Sunday 17 May 2026 until expiry at 9:43 pm AEST Monday 18 May 2026. The next update is scheduled by 1:00 pm AEST on Monday 18 May 2026.
Original source: BOM Official Notice ↗
Related Weather Warnings
All Weather Warnings →Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8
Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this BoM weather warning: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (1,510 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (medium) notices issued closest in time to May 17, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this BoM weather warning.