Parts of Lismore evacuated as floods threaten lives in NSW, Queensland

Flooding has claimed a life and is threatening others as heavy rain lashes some of the the worst-affected parts of Australia's east coast yet again.

Two more evacuation orders have been issued for low-lying parts of Mullumbimby and Billinudgel on the New South Wales north coast — they're two of five Evacuation Orders currently issued by the NSW State Emergency Services (NSW SES).

Rainfall continues to wreak havoc from Brisbane to Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast, amid a Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warning of possible "life-threatening flash flooding" for a second time this month.

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https://twitter.com/NSWSES/status/1508511638143795201

Residents of low-lying parts of Lismore faced a case of deja vu about 7.30pm yesterday when they were given just hours to evacuate their homes.

It came almost a month to the day after the town was hit with catastrophic flooding.

The NSW SES gave residents in North Lismore until 9pm while those in South Lismore and Kyogle were allowed another hour.

Chindera, Bandora, Bilambil Heights and Kingscliff all copped more than 100mm of rain in six hours and major flooding is possible for the Richmond, Wilsons, Orara and Bellinger rivers from today.

Authorities expect moderate to major flooding along Wilsons River at Lismore from this morning.

One dead, one missing in Queensland floods

Overnight, the BoM continued to warn residents of a great swathe of the Australia's east coast of severe weather capable of dropping up to 140mm of rain — or up to 300mm in extreme cases in NSW — in six hours.

Since 9am Brisbane has seen 62.6mm rain, while Sydney has recorded 53.6mm.

This pales in comparison to other Queensland cities; up to 296mm has been recorded at Burleigh Waters, 374 mm at Coplicks Bridge, 291mm at Gold Coast Seaway, and 232 mm at Coolangatta.

At midnight, those warnings stretched from Caboolture, just north of Brisbane, to Port Macquarie on the NSW Mid North Coast, and up to 150km inland.

A severe thunderstorm pounded the Gold Coast shortly after, dumping 131mm of rain at the Gold Coast Seaway in just two hours and more than 100mm at Evandale, Biggera and Loder Creek.

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The latest inundation has already claimed one man's life, and another man is missing, as rain falls on sodden Queensland catchments.

Emergency services were called to Kingsthorpe, near Toowoomba, just before 5am on reports a couple had become trapped in a ute submerged in floodwaters.

The woman was rescued and taken to hospital in a stable condition but the man was found dead at the scene, along with several dogs.

Another search was launched on Monday morning for a man swept away by floodwaters in North Branch, in the Southern Downs region south-west of Brisbane.

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