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NSW Police savaged over 'appalling' act near flooded town

An image of a NSW Police Force speed trap outside a flood-ravaged town has sparked outrage, with locals questioning the agency's priorities while residents are in dire need of assistance.

The photo of the police car was taken by Liam Mendes, a journalist from The Australian, just outside of Mullumbimby, a NSW town near Byron Bay, which has been left without power, fuel and running water, and a severe lack of communication due to the recent flooding.

According to The Australian, the highway patrol officer had a speed gun.

Nearby towns Main Arm and Wilsons Creek have been cut off due to landslides and floods, and residents are desperate for emergency services to help with the recovery.

A NSW Police speed trap outside Mullumbimby, an area affected by floods.
A NSW Police speed trap seen parked outside of Mullumbimby. Source: Liam Mendes/The Australian

Extreme flooding has swept several regions in Queensland and NSW following days of rain.

The sudden downpour caused widespread destruction in just hours, knocking out powerlines and destroying homes.

Southeast Queensland was hit hard with Gympie recording its highest flood in a century before the rain moved south to NSW, leaving Lismore in life-threatening levels of floodwater.

As of Sunday, 17 people have lost their lives during the weather event.

'People are trapped and missing', Mullumbimby locals says

Locals have taken to social media asking for help, with a landslide causing trees and mud to cover roads in and out of town, trapping residents and stopping help from getting in.

"To the Government Services: We need you to rescue people still trapped and missing... houses in landslides, roads turned into rivers, people trapped in mountain areas with no power, food, or capacity to escape," a woman from Mullumbimby wrote on social media on Saturday.

"We need you to pass uncrossable roads, to rescue people, then start the road clean up and longer term recovery.

"The locals are alone doing it themselves.

"Some of my friends in the mountains are running out of clean water and have no food. Power generators provide an hour of time to access [the] internet and communicate."

Scenes after the floods in the Central Business District of Lismore, NSW on Friday, March 4, 2022.
The aftermath of the devastating flooding that swept through the NSW town of Lismore earlier in the week. Source: AAP

Another post making its way around on social media read: "There are landslides, and regular people trying to scale cliffs to rescue pregnant people, babies and families.

'We need the army, we need police, we need services.

"There's still no phone reception and no one knows the full depth of what's going on here... it's apocalyptic."

Locals accuse police of revenue raising

After Mendes' photo emerged, furious people vented on social media, questioning why police had decided to set up a mobile speed camera outside a town that was begging for help.

"If you're asking me, 'Protect and Serve' shouldn't mean 'fine people speeding whilst residents of said town are suffering,'" one man wrote on Twitter in response to the photo.

"There's far more important matters over revenue raising in that area and it's so obvious the police and the Government do not care."

"That is seriously f***ed up," another said.

"People rushing to help people in danger and the [government] wants to make money out of it."

"I drove into Ballina... to drop supplies to two boats going upstream to my relatives cut off in Empire Vale," one person wrote.

"Surreal to drive past police pointing speed cameras at me on the way down."

Lismore in NSW was badly hit by the floodwaters. Source: AAP
Lismore in NSW was badly hit by the floodwaters. Source: AAP

Residents 'trapped' by debris on roads

Five days after the landslide cut off the road to Main Arm and Wilsons Creek, no emergency services had arrived, The Australian reported.

“It’s an appalling use of public resources in the middle of a crisis,” local Saul Fitton told the publication.

When contacted by Yahoo News Australia about the residents' concerns and the speed trap, NSW Police said hundreds of officers were deployed across the Northern Rivers region.

"[The NSW Police Force is] continuing to conduct search and rescue operations and begin recovery assistance alongside NSW SES, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Rural Fire Service, Resilience NSW and the Australian Defence Force (ADF)," a spokesperson said.

"Police priorities are keeping the community safe and part of that is on our roads.

"Motorists need to drive to the conditions to avoid any unexpected hazards due to the weather conditions and abide by road rules for their own safety and the safety of other road users."

Five-thousand ADF personnel will be deployed to help the clean up in Northern NSW, with 900 arriving on Monday and an additional thousands deployed next week, AAP reported.

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