Sydney mudslide kills mother, child

Press, 2 May 1988, Page 1

Sydney mudslide kills mother, child

NZPAAAP Sydney Heavy rain caused flooding to continue yesterday in coastal Sydney after a mother and her child were killed in a mudslide on Saturday and 500 people were moved out. Further rain was forecast along the New South Wales south coast as a rain depression moved south. The bodies of Jennifer Mary Hagan, aged 31, and James

Hagan, aged two, were recovered yesterday from the wreckage of their house near Wollongong. A huge mudslide crushed their house and moved it 60 metres downhill. The woman’s husband and other two children were rescued from the wreckage of the house. Flooding has caused extensive damage in hundreds of

homes, cut roads, and trapped people in vehicles. A Weather Bureau spokesman said the situation had eased along the Georges River, but severe flooding would continue along the Hawkesbury and Shoalhaven Rivers. About 300 people in the Sydney metropolitan area were being looked after in welfare centres manned by the Disaster Welfare Services. Further evacuations could be

expected today as floodwaters moved downstream of the Hawkesbury and Shoalhaven Rivers, the spokesman said. Two caravan parks along the Shoalhaven River had been evacuated as a precaution. Rail services were disrupted by flooding with water covering the line in the city underground near the Town Hall. Road conditions were improving around inner Sydney with most main roads open.