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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Matilda Boseley

Cars stranded on M1 as Queensland death toll rises to eight – as it happened

What we learned: Monday, 28 February

With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Stay safe, stay dry, and take care of yourselves.

Here are today’s major developments, the majority of which have been flood related.

  • The death toll of floods hitting south east Queensland and northern New South Wales has reached eight after the body of a man in his 50s was found alongside his dog in a submerged car in the Currumbin Valley.
  • The Wilsons River in Lismore is expected to peak at at least 16 metres after breaking the previous record of 12.27 metres earlier today. The northern NSW city recorded 700mm of rain in just 30 hours, placing the entire CBD underwater.
  • 200 Australian Defence Force members have been deployed to assist with emergency rescues, with 400 people in Lismore still unaccounted for - many stuck in their homes. More than 500 flood rescues have been performed in NSW, with 927 requests for assistance in the past day and cars stranded on the M1 motorway.
  • Nine NSW local government areas are now eligible for the disaster payment in the wake of ongoing flooding. Premier Dominic Perrottet says the floods will get worse in the coming days as they move towards the south coast of the state.
  • In Queensland, the Brisbane River peaked just above four metres with warnings it could rise again overnight. The Story Bridge has been shut and the Howards Smith Wharves were forced to be evacuated after a pontoon carrying a crane broke free from its mooring. Crews have responded to more than 9,000 assistance requests in the state, with 600 emergency rescues conducted.
  • In Covid news, there have sadly been 12 lives lost nationally today. WA announced it would introduce stage two restrictions from Thursday after recording 1,136 cases.
  • And at least 20 people have reached out to the Ukrainian embassy expressing an interest in travelling to Europe to fight against Russia. The Australian government has so far counselled citizens against travelling to fight, citing the Criminal Code. Russia has been listed as a ‘do not travel’ zone with any Australians urged to evacuate now.

To end on a more positive note:

Updated

The Sydney Opera House tonight:

Still in Queensland, the Brisbane River is closed to all vessels due to ongoing dangerous conditions, and a string of measures have been imposed to district court matters – including the suspension of new jury trials for the rest of the week.

“Unprecedented” is a word that has been repeated many times today, by many leaders. But scientists too keep repeating that these intense episodes of severe weather conditions are becoming a worrying reality as a result of climate change.

As Dr Nina Ridder, research associate at UNSW Climate Change Research Centre, said:

Over the past decades we have already seen an increase in the number and intensity of extreme rainfall events and we are expecting this trend to continue into the future.

Updated

More shots of the devastating situation in Lismore:

Here’s the latest on the flooding hitting Queensland and New South Wales from AAP.

Starting in Queensland, stranded residents on the Fraser Coast north of Brisbane are cautiously awaiting a peak of the Mary River as flood waters engulf bridges and separate towns.

Major flooding continued in the Gympie and Maryborough regions on Monday after widespread rainfall saturated the area with totals of 200-600mm recorded in the past four days.

Up to 3,600 homes in Gympie could be affected by the rainfall as some isolated areas of the region received more than 1000mm over the period. The Mary River at Gympie is at 19.36 metres and falling with major flooding, but may drop below the major flood level of 17 metres this evening.

On the Sunshine Coast, council mayor Mark Jamieson said the funding that would be required through the federal and state governments will run into the many, many tens of millions of dollars.

In northern NSW, the unprecedented flood emergency is likely to worsen in coming days, as Lismore is expected to be submerged under 16 metres of flood water.

The SES has been overwhelmed with over 900 calls for help as the region was hit by its worst rainfall ever, with the situation being described as “dire” and “catastrophic”. There are 17 evacuation orders in place across the state’s north while 21 areas are under evacuation warnings, covering around 62,000 people, the premier said.

The Bureau of Meteorology expects the far north’s heavy rain to ease on Monday afternoon, and in the evening for the mid north coast, as the low moves south.

Intense episodes of wild weather will remain a worrying reality prompted by climate change, scientists say.

Updated

We’ve compiled a series of images that show before and after shots of Lismore to demonstrate the sheer scale of the flooding event.

Check it out here:

Victoria police will be diverting resources to NSW to assist with flood rescues.

Updated

In Queensland, state schools will remain closed in 10 local government areas in the south east tomorrow in the wake of floods.

Selected state schools in the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Lockyer Valley will begin to reopen.

Updated

400 people remain unaccounted for as emergency services rush to rescue residents before it darkens. The river is continuing to rise this afternoon.

Updated

The Queensland minister for transport and main roads, Mark Bailey, has provided an update to public transport services. Queensland rail services will remain suspended on Tuesday and possibly longer due to “extensive damage” to the network as a result of floods.

A number of station buildings were inundated with water, landslips have damaged the tracks at multiple locations and areas of overhead power line are down. Safety is paramount, so we will not be resuming train services until it is absolutely safe to do so.

Bailey said a limited number of bus operators were in action today, while Brisbane City Council services would run to a Saturday timetable tomorrow.

It is good news that some Brisbane buses will resume tomorrow, but bus services continue to be disrupted due to rising flood waters and road closures in place. With schools closed today and [south-east Queensland] residents urged to work from home, we believe the impacts of these reduced services has been lessened.

If it’s not safe for our buses and trains to be operating, it’s certainly not safe for cars to be on the road. We expect a limited number of buses will be available tomorrow as some flood waters recede, but I urge customers to check the TransLink journey planner for up to date information. If you do not absolutely need to be out and about, please stay home.

Ferries on the Brisbane River will remain suspended while river levels are high.

School bus services will run to schools that are open and where it is safe to do so, should schools open tomorrow.

Updated

Aiden Ricketts’ north Lismore house had never flooded before, but he woke before dawn to water pouring in. He owns a 4.5-metre boat and got his household of six out, then returned to rescue people living in the surrounding streets.

Today Ricketts ferried 16 people and five dogs to safety.

My [elevated] house is above the one-in-100-year flood standard. We were expecting to wake up with high water around us, then go and help other people. I had the tinnie tied up outside, but by 5am the water was coming in the house, so we just went out and rescued other people anyway, because there was nothing I could do for our house.

As we left, there were neighbours sitting on roofs and we heard people in a roof cavity trying to bash the tin off their roof and get out ... They were trying to angle-grind and bash the tin off the roof to get out.

We helped them rip the tin off, then another boat came ... I ferried them across the river to Hindmarsh Street, which is the beginning of a hill going up to Goonellabah. That has become our mainland.

Ricketts said he couldn’t estimate how many people were trapped in homes by the flood water today.

It is absolutely massive because these floods are at least two metres higher than anything known, so people who were sure their house was not going to get flooded would have stayed. I pulled one guy who was just standing there in four foot of water from his house into our boat.

Updated

Wilsons River expected to reach height of 16 metres

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, says the estimated peak of the Wilsons River at Lismore has been revised up to 16 metres. The previous record of 12.27 was already smashed earlier today.

Staggering.

Updated

Image shows the view from the upper floor of the Lismore Base Hospital, showing the flooding in the car park, the pink truck is the breast cancer screen truck, the objects nearby are part of the Lismore Base Hospital’s vehicle fleet.
Image shows the view from the upper floor of the Lismore Base Hospital, showing the flooding in the car park: the pink truck is the breast cancer screening truck, the objects nearby are part of the Lismore Base Hospital’s vehicle fleet. Photograph: Gil Wilson

This is an image from the Lismore Base Hospital supplied by senior nurse, Gil Wilson.

“That pink you can see is the BreastScreen truck,” Wilson says. “How much is that worth?”

“The white dots floating in the car park are the tops of the [hospital] fleet cars,” he adds. That’s going to be part of the clean-up and recovery bill.”

Updated

WA premier Mark McGowan says the latest health advice is that WA will reach a peak of Covid cases in the coming fortnight due to the speed of the Omicron spread.

The state will move to level two restrictions from Thursday. They are expected to last for about four weeks.

Updated

As WA surpasses 5,000 active Covid-19 cases, the state is moving to level two public health measures from Thursday, capping Optus stadium at 50% in the lead-up to the footy season.

Updated

Cars stranded on M1 as flood waters rise

Hundreds of cars are stranded on the M1, the main highway between Sydney and Brisbane, just south of the Tweed River in far northern NSW, with flood waters reportedly rising around them.

The highway was cut by flooding at Duranbah at about 7.30am, and nine hours later stranded northbound drivers report they have no food or water, and have received no information from authorities about what to expect.

Making the situation worse is the fact Google Maps is not reflecting the flood closures, leading more people to attempt the journey north from Ballina to reach Tweed, only to find themselves in a traffic jam at least several kilometres long, with no way to turn around onto the highway southbound.

Robert Quirk is a sugar cane farmer 15km south of Tweed Heads. He’s watched from his farmhouse with rising alarm as the traffic has backed up on the highway and the waters are rising around them. Quirk told Guardian Australia:

There would have to be a thousand of them [people] – I have no idea how many are down there.

He added:

[The water is] now over the dual highway. They’re backing them up as far as they can ... to get them out of the water. But this was coming up, like really fast.

There is a chopper that just flew [over] so they must have some idea, but someone really needs to be making some sort of plan.

Updated

5pm flood update

Conditions remain dire in Lismore, in New South Wales, where the entire CBD remains underwater as the town’s Wilsons River exceeds a record 14.3 metres.

The northern NSW city recorded 700mm of rain in just 30 hours, its worst ever flood crisis surpassing the devastation of 1954, when the river hit 12.27 metres.

Some 200 Australian Defence Force members have been deployed to assist with emergency rescues, after dozens were forced to clamber onto rooftops in the middle of the night and waited hours to be rescued by both the State Emergency Services and private citizens with boats.

More than 500 flood rescues have been performed in NSW, while there have been 927 requests for assistance in the past day. Their efforts have been hampered by the extreme weather preventing access to the town from the air.

Across the border in Queensland, the body of an eighth flood victim has been found.

Surf lifesavers found the bodies of a man in his 50s and his dog in a submerged car in the Currumbin Valley on Monday morning after they were swept off the road on Sunday night, police said.

Conditions have slightly eased on the Brisbane, Bremer, Lockyer, Logan and Albert, Mary, North Pine, Noosa Maroochy rivers after a year’s worth of rainfall in some areas in one or two days. But thunderstorms are expected to pick up again on Wednesday, as a low moves into the south coast of NSW.

Meanwhile, the Story Bridge in Brisbane has been shut and Howards Smith Wharves were forced to be evacuated after a pontoon carrying a crane broke free from its mooring. A number of motorways and roads remain shut off as emergency services assess flood damage.

The Brisbane River peaked just above four metres with warnings it would rise again tonight.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the intensity of the downpours and severity of the floods were not expected, while the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said the weather event had been “unprecedented” for his state, and warned floods would worsen in the coming days.

The emergency disaster payment – capped at $1,000 – has been extended to nine NSW government areas in light of continued flooding.

Updated

Back in Queensland, the Bruce Highway between Brisbane and Traveston has reopened for priority travel and essential reasons.

Transport and Main Roads minister, Mark Bailey, said sections of the highway in the south would operate at reduced capacity and reduced speed limits due to the weather event:

I’m pleased to report between Brisbane and Traveston has reopened, with trucks able to get through, and families and loved ones now able to reconnect. The message is still for people to only travel if necessary.

Our crews are still working around the clock to repair parts of the Bruce, and they need time and space to get the work done, so please only travel if you absolutely need to. People should allow additional travel time between Brisbane and Traveston with delays expected and be on the lookout for emerging potholes after the flooding.

Bailey said the highway remained closed from the Mary Valley Link Road interchange at Traveston due to significant flooding in Gympie and Maryborough:

We understand the Bruce Highway is the lifeblood of our state and we are working as quickly as possible to reopen the section north of Mary Valley Link Road interchange at Traveston when it is safe to do so.

Specialist road crews have been working to clear debris and mud from major roads and undertake vital safety inspections.

We anticipate substantial repairs will be required across the network and we thank motorists for their patience while we continue assessments and program repairs over coming months.

Motorists are urged to check the QldTraffic website before travel and make alternative arrangements where needed.

There are more than 50 state-controlled roads closed across the North Coast along with many other local roads. For storm-related assistance, call the SES on 132 500 or download the SES Assistance QLD app.

Updated

Back in Lismore, the Bundjalung community have issued an urgent callout via Koori Mail as the river rises beyond 14 metres.

Gundurimba mission is cut off from the town, with no power and limited food supplies.

SA records one death, 1,358 Covid cases

South Australia’s Covid update has just come through. Sadly, there has been one death overnight.

There are 109 people being treated in hospital, including 10 in ICU and two people requiring ventilation.

There were 1,358 new Covid cases.

Updated

Turning to the disaster recovery payment, McKenzie is asked how many applications have been made since the commonwealth made the funding available for Queenslanders impacted by floods. Financial support became available from today, with a $1,000 cap for each adult and $400 for each child for those hit by the floods since 22 February.

McKenzie said she had activated the payment to be eligible in nine additional NSW government areas including Lismore, and it is targeted at the “emergency phase” of recovery when access to basic things like accomodation and clothing is required.

It is really important that you view this specific measure in the context of all the support that we as a federal government, local governments and state governments provide, not just individuals but businesses in the immediate response phase which is right now and this week, where people are having to leave their homes and evacuate, we want them to be able to access accommodation if required.

Commercially we want them to be able to feed themselves and their family, get clothes if they have had to leave their home quickly. So this is not the payment that is going to get you through the whole recovery phase and we have a raft of measures, as we move from the immediate response into the longer term recovery that are available to individuals and businesses as we go through.

Updated

McKenzie is asked whether a further commonwealth response may be needed considering the severity of the floods, which have been described several times today by several different people as “unprecedented”.

She said 200 ADF personnel is not the upper limit:

Not at all and ... whether it is the Queensland government or the New South Wales government, I’m in instant contact with their state emergency ministers and asking how much more support can we provide, what ... specifically are these skill sets that they require and then I activate a plan within the federal level and the defence personnel or assets are released ...

It really is up to state governments to give the specific request to myself and then we deploy as quickly as possible exactly what they need which is what we are seeing today in Lismore and that is going to continue.

Updated

The federal emergency management minister, Bridget McKenzie, is speaking live from Wodonga on ABC News. She said the floods remain a “serious and life-threatening event” across two states. Around 200 ADF personnel are currently on the ground assisting with the rescue effort.

As the Lismore River rises in excess of 14 metres this is going to be a catastrophic event, inundation in excess of 500 houses and 3,500 businesses ... I am advised there have been over 500 rescues already within the Lismore region.

We’ve got over 200 personnel on the ground, I’m advised helping that local effort and we have been able to get two helicopters to be in the operation area as we speak with a third to join them in the evacuation efforts by the end of the day.

Updated

Queensland police are warning residents against disaster tourism.

Unsurprisingly, given the record-breaking floods in parts of northern NSW, the Insurance Council (ICA) on Monday extended its “catastrophe declaration”.

The declaration had previously covered south-east Queensland from Saturday, after biblical totals had fallen on places such as (not so aptly named) Mount Glorious.

“Since 21 February insurers have received almost 15,000 claims from policyholders related to extreme rainfall in both States, a 33% increase on yesterday’s claims figures,” the ICA said in a statement.

The point of the declaration is to “escalate and prioritise” the insurance industry’s response for affected policyholders. This includes “triaging” claims to direct urgent assistance to worst-affected property owners, and setting up a taskforce to identify and address issues arising from “this extreme weather event”.

Meanwhile, in an update from an earlier post about Sydney’s dams, WaterNSW said it is monitoring “a significant rain event making its way into the Greater Sydney catchment, which is likely to push some Sydney dams beyond capacity, including Warragamba”.

With Sydney’s dam network at 97.4% of capacity and Warragamba at 98.7%, heavy rain forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology for midweek is likely to generate sufficient inflows to cause spill events at a number of dams.

WaterNSW:

This includes Warragamba Dam, at a rate below the spill experienced in March 2021 [during big floods] but still likely to result in downstream river level increases. The spill rate will be determined by the intensity of the rainfall and the inflow generated.

The Tallowa and Cordeaux Dams are already spilling and other upper Nepean storages likely to spill in the days ahead include Nepean, Avon and Cataract, along with Woronora Dam to Sydney’s south.

Other dams spilling around NSW include Toonumbar Dam on the north coast near Kyogle, and Brogo Dam on the south coast near Bega.

Updated

Back in north-east NSW, the M1 Pacific motorway is still closed for a long stretch in both directions due to flooding.

Lismore has had around 700mm of rainfall in 30 hours. The average monthly rainfall in February is 183.6mm.

Updated

Brace yourself if you’re in Tasmania – the BoM is warning severe thunderstorms will hit the north-east this afternoon.

Updated

WA records 1,136 new cases

Western Australia has provided its daily Covid update. There have been 1,136 new local cases detected in the state and four ‘other’ cases – so the numbers are staying relatively stable for now.

It brings active cases to 5,540.

There are 11 people being treated in hospital with the virus, and none requiring intensive care.

Updated

Australians reach out to embassy to travel to Ukraine

I’ve spoken with the top official at Ukraine’s embassy in Australia, Volodymyr Shalkivskyi.

He said the embassy had been contacted by “at least 20” people expressing an interest in travelling to Ukraine to fight against Russia:

I am telling them that I don’t have any instructions yet. I’m telling them they need to check Australian legislation because we don’t want for them to get into trouble.

The comments come after Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said a new foreign legion for international volunteers was being assembled, with an appeal for anyone in the global community interested in fighting for democracy to join.

Shalkivskyi said he expected numbers to be higher from countries in the immediate region:

In terms of Australia, it’s a very complicated story.

The Australian government has so far counselled its citizens against travelling to fight. Under the Criminal Code, it is an offence for an Australian to enter a foreign country with the intention of engaging in hostile activity, unless it is done as part of “the person’s service in any capacity in or with the armed forces of the government of a foreign country”.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, said earlier today that there were “uncertainties that are associated with the arrangements and the force that president Zelenskiy is putting in place”.

Updated

It is also worth returning briefly to a question put to the BoM at Perrottet’s flood update.

The BoM has been criticised for not sufficiently warning residents in Lismore about the extent of the flood danger overnight. Was the forecast wrong? Why weren’t we prepared for the scale?

Grahame Reader, a spokesperson for the BoM, said:

Well, we certainly had a major flood warning issued for the area as early as Saturday. We were talking about the Queensland situation and the significant, unprecedented falls there, expected to come into northern New South Wales. And that’s what occurred. It is fair to say, though, the system really was quite slow-moving. It probably moved a little slower than expected, and that meant some of the peak falls were a little higher than expected. But in general I think the pattern was quite well-predicted.

Reporter:

Why don’t you think people evacuated as quickly as maybe they should have, in hindsight?

Reader:

That’s not a question for me to answer.

Updated

Christine Tondorf has just sent us an update on the fast-moving situation in the northern rivers.

Northern rivers local John Vanderstok, who joined a flotilla of private boats rescuing residents trapped in flooded homes across the town today, said authorities were overwhelmed by the scale of the rescue operation:

The emergency services are around but I’d say the locals outnumber them 20 to one, anyone who has a boat is just out there trying to save anyone they can. It’s just so sad, so terrible for the people trapped.

There would have been – hanging out windows, on roofs – hundreds. There are people everywhere and there are also a lot of boats. I reckon about 200 to 300 boats are there, even heading back, I passed another 15 boats heading in.

John Vanderstok joined a flotilla of private boats rescuing residents trapped in flooded homes.
John Vanderstok joined a flotilla of private boats rescuing residents trapped in flooded homes. Photograph: Christine Tondorf/The Guardian

Lismore community Facebook pages have multiple posts from people trapped in properties calling for assistance. Vanderstok had a friend call, an “older bloke trapped in south Lismore”:

His place is two-storey, but he called me from a step ladder he was standing on the second floor. He was debating whether to crawl into the roof cavity, so I put my jet ski on the car and went there.

But once in the flood water, the jet ski sucked something up which stuffed up the propeller so I could only do about five knots, I had no power, but I just kept going and got to his place.

He’d been rescued five minutes earlier, I’d missed him, and my jet ski was buggered, so I couldn’t take another passenger.

Vanderstok said he arrived in south Lismore just after 10.30am, and saw many people in elevated houses who looked like they were standing in three to four feet of water. When asked if the residents were distressed, Vanderstok responded: “Yes and no, they are certainly letting you know they are there”.

But it is unbelievable to see the support from locals. Seems like anyone, any Tom, Dick or Harry, with any sort of boat has just turned up to help.

The SES has requested that residents do not head out in private boats due to dangerous conditions.

Updated

NZ scraps self-isolation for vaccinated trans-tasman travellers

New Zealand has ended its self-isolation requirements for vaccinated travellers arriving from Australia, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced.

From 2 March, vaccinated travellers entering New Zealand will no longer need to self isolate but will still be required to undergo a Covid-19 test on arrival and on day five or six.

If the traveller tests positive for the virus, they will be required to self-isolate, in line with the requirements for New Zealanders. Unvaccinated travellers will still have to stay in managed isolation, or MIQ.

The country is in the midst of an Omicron surge, with 14,633 cases reported on Monday, and 23 at the border.

Ardern said:

I know this will be welcome news to the members of our team overseas eager to travel home to see loved ones as soon as possible. We can’t wait to see you. It’s also a huge milestone for our tourism sector and regional economies.

The staged border reopening will still stand, but with some adjustments, she said.

The first stage, which began on Monday, now means vaccinated New Zealanders and other visa holders arriving from Australia only have to self-isolate until midnight Wednesday, when the new rules kick in.

Stage two, which is made up of returning kiwis and eligible critical workers from the rest of the world was due to start from 13 March, but will be brought forward to 4 March. The government will consider the settings for all other travellers over the coming months.

“We will continue to remove restrictions when advised it is safe to do so, and today, that is what we have been told, and it is why we are acting,” Ardern said.

Updated

Lismore Base hospital in northern NSW has been cut off by flood waters, Gil Wilson, a senior nurse, told us.

“It’s a disaster at the moment, it’s huge,” he said, with the waters of the swollen Wilson River swirling past nearby.

Power has been cut off since this morning, and the hospital is on back-up electricity from generators.

A couple of people suffering from hypothermia having been stuck on roofs have been brought in, and a chopper has made several visits.

“A boat could almost pull up to the emergency department,” Wilson said, only half in jest.

The hospital had recently been pushed to maximum capacity and then some because it also served as the region’s main Covid hospital, as we reported here almost two months ago. Staff who didn’t leave during the weekend are preparing to do double shifts, or more, until they can get some relief, Wilson said.

Image shows the view from the upper floor of the Lismore Base Hospital, showing the flooding in the car park, and the town beyond.
Flooding in the car park of the Lismore Base hospital. Photograph: Gil Wilson

Updated

Perrottet is asked about financial assistance for those impacted by floods. He said he has had discussions with the prime minister in relation to disaster declarations: “That process is currently in place and is underway”. Presumably this means more than crowdfunding online.

Perrotet:

Just like we have in the past, we will do what it takes once these have subsided to get these local communities back on their feet as quickly as possible ... I want to thank the PM for the numerous discussions we had over the course of the day and he has indicated whatever support we need from the commonwealth, they will provide, and it’s not just operational and logistics support, it’s also financial.

Asked whether there will be individual grants available, Perrottet said: “We won’t put a dollar figure on support.”

This is getting our communities are back on their feet as quickly as possible and whatever financial assistance we can give, we will. We have done that and every flood in the past, there have always been learnings through that process ... in the short term, right now, our focus today is ensuring people’s safety in those flooded communities. That’s our focus.

Updated

Asked what to do if you’re currently on the NSW south coast, anticipating storms will arrive later in the week, the advice is make sure your house is “as safe as possible”.

The SES commissioner, York, said:

Tie down loose equipment, clear out your gutters ... look at what you need to take if you need to go quickly ... medication, important documents, identification documents that you may need but also think about the animals ... stock and where they can put them up to higher ground ... make sure you have someone that you know that you can contact to help those animals ... keep up to date with all of the information that both the bureau and SES are putting out to give an update on the situation as this whether event moves south.

On warnings against residents taking their boats out to assist stranded families and individuals, the commissioner said:

I understand the dedication that both our volunteers and community members have for each other in the community but I must caution if my expert flood rescue technicians find the water is dangerous, and we are holding them back so we do not put their lives in danger, the communities should take heed ...

Updated

New South Wales State Emergency Services have warned people right along the New South Wales coast to prepare for flash flooding as the storm cell that battered north-east Australia moves south.

Lismore in northern NSW has been inundated after flooding in the Wilsons River overtook the levee in the early hours of Monday morning.

Adam Jones, an SES spokesperson said: “The storm situation that is current in the northern rivers area is not the only area of concern.”

We have a storm warning that could become current up and down the coast. And with the earth as saturated as it is, and our river systems and dams full, we need everyone on the coast of NSW preparing for flash flooding.

The SES has made 545 rescues and had a total of 1500 calls for assistance in the last 24 hours. They have 500 personnel responding to the event.

Those in need of assistance should call the SES on 132 500 while those who believe their life is in immediate danger should call 000.

Updated

Reporter:

He said the situation will get worse, what exactly does that mean?

Perrottet:

It doesn’t look like at this stage, as we have said, that the rivers have peaked and the flooding has peaked and ... we would expect these weather conditions to move further south over the course of the week, especially towards the back end of the week ...

The warnings that we are providing today and instruction from the SES today is not just limited to the north because we do expect this to go further south and especially into the south coast so the strong instruction today, our clear message today, is that when these warnings are in place, as this event moves through our state, please follow those instructions.

Updated

Perrottet said today’s event was “worse than expected” and acknowledged images of residents stuck in flood water has been distressing.

Past experience doesn’t mean much in an unprecedented event so those orders are not there for the sake of it, they are there to protect you and your family and to keep you safe. So if those orders are in place, if there is an evacuation warning in place, please be prepared and please be ready to evacuate on very short notice ... much tragedy occurs when those instructions are not followed.

It is incredibly distressing, the images that we are seeing – on roofs. They are concerning, distressing, and our hearts go out to each of those people who are affected by this. What I can say is that we are doing everything that we can to provide that support and get to you as quickly as possible.

As the commissioner said, the conditions remain incredibly difficult and there are boats available and we do have the support of the ADF on the ground and we will get to you as quickly as we can.

Updated

The unprecedented rainfall hitting north-east New South Wales is expected to continue this afternoon before it temporarily eases.

The low will track down the coast through the course of the week, and from Wednesday is expected to form in the south coast, accompanied by severe weather warnings, damaging winds, significant seas and flooding continuing through the southern part of NSW.

There are currently major flood warnings out for the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Clarence and Brunswick rivers and Marshal creek. The Wilsons river at Lismore is currently higher than the 1954 and 1974 levels.

Updated

The RFS has 154 personnel on the ground, 42 brigades and two additional strike teams ready for deployment to respond to the flood conditions in NSW.

York said the effort has been hampered by the weather conditions which are making it difficult to reach people:

I once again am respectfully asking all residents who are currently the subject of an evacuation warning to prepare to leave at very, very short notice. Please prepare your emergency management kit, whether that be some dry clothes, your medications, your laptops, important documents, batteries, phone chargers, those sort of devices ... the situation is evolving very quickly, it’s changing very quickly, and we do not want your life at risk under those circumstances.

Thank you very, very much for your efforts so far. They will, of course, need to continue over the days and weeks ahead, as we head from the emergency response into the clean-up efforts, but right now the priority is on saving lives. And if you are currently stranded, please be patient, we will get to you as quickly as we can.

Updated

Flood levels in Lismore break record

NSW State Emergency Services commissioner, Carlene York, is speaking now. She echoed Perrottet’s message that we are in unprecedented times. This is not flooding as we’ve seen it before, she said:

We are presently experiencing very dangerous rainfall and life-threatening flash flooding in north-east NSW ... we are seeing the vision of people stranded, people stuck on roofs of homes. My heart goes out to you. And please know that our emergency services are doing everything they can to get to you as quickly as they can.

York said this is likely to continue for “several hours” as the Wilson River at Lismore reaches record flood levels and continues to rise.

The last record flood along the Wilson at Lismore was set in 1954 and it peaked at 12.17 metres. The river is presently at 14.36 metres and continuing to rise. This is entirely unprecedented for this region. So, for those people who have lived here, or lived in that wonderful part of the world, for many, many years, we need you to please be on alert now more than ever. These conditions are different to anything you will have experienced before.

Updated

Perrottet said flooding in the north-east of the state will move south over the course of the week into the south coast, with flash flooding to hit “various areas” of the state.

He thanked the prime minister for providing ADF support and aircrafts to assist with logistics and sandbagging.

Perrottet said:

Can I ask those people who are isolated at the moment, please be patient, but be assured we are doing everything we can to help you, to get you through. Can I also ask anyone in those areas to follow those instructions ...

The SES are there, those instructions are there, to provide safety and support to you at this difficult time ... our state has gone through many challenges in the past. And just like the bushfires and the floods over the last couple of years, we will get through this challenge as well.

Updated

There are also six towns where there is an evacuation order in place. Around 14,000 people in those areas must begin planning and preparing for evacuation. If it is safe to leave, please do so, Perrottet said.

For those people in communities where it has not flooded before, please do not think that a flood will not occur in your community. We have seen this flooding to be unprecedented, particularly in this area, so please continue to follow the instructions of the SES, be patient, we are doing everything that we can to provide the help and support for people in these flooded communities.

Our message to motorists is: do not drive through floodwaters. We say this every time during flooding events. If you drive through floodwaters, you are putting your life, and the lives of others, at risk. So, please, as I said, follow those instructions, follow the advice from the SES, and do not, under any circumstances, drive through those floodwaters.

Updated

Floods will get worse in coming days, Perrottet warns

The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, said the weather conditions we are seeing are “unprecedented” and expects, based on advice, that the floods will worsen in the coming days.

NSW has seen more than 500 flood rescues to date, with 927 requests for assistance in the past 24 hours. There are currently 12 evacuation orders in place across the state, affecting close to 16,000 people.

Many would have seen distressing images of survival and there are many distressing reports, particularly around the Lismore area, of people who are isolated and currently stranded. And I want to make it clear that we are doing everything we can to provide help and support as quickly and as safely as possible.

I would like to thank everybody, particularly the SES, who are providing all the support they can to help those communities, particularly in northern NSW.

If you are in one of those areas and you can evacuate safely, please do so. If you are unsure, please contact the SES on 132 500. And if your life is at risk, please contact 000.

Updated

As the BoM lists a string of weather warnings for NSW, the premier, Dominic Perrottet, is due to provide a flooding update.

Updated

More fallout from the floods, hitting airport runways and supermarket chains.

Queensland SES respond to more than 9,000 assistance requests

Queensland crews from the SES, Fire and Rescue Service and Rural Fire Service have just provided an update. As of Monday afternoon, crews have responded to more than 9,000 assistance requests as conditions begin to ease in the south-east.

There have been almost 600 rescues.

Victoria is sending 15 Fire Rescue personnel including three swift water rescue crews to Queensland to assist with ongoing evacuations.

Updated

Holy Wow indeed.

Not even houseboats are safe with the current flow through Brisbane.

Meanwhile, the Bruce Highway between Caloundra and Caboolture is open for travel, but with traffic control and limited lane availability.

Nearly 54,000 homes are without power in south-east Queensland.

The premier this morning urged for patience as authorities monitored the damage.

Updated

In New South Wales, a flood watch has been issued for the mid-north and central coast, and down to Queanbeyan in the south. Minor to moderate flooding is possible from Wednesday, when thunderstorms are expected to return in Queensland.

There is also “major flooding” possible on the Bellinger River this evening.

Updated

Some good news. A man from Goodna who had been missing since yesterday evening has been located alive and well.

Yesterday afternoon, the man and his family evacuated their home on Woogaroo street.

Around 8.40pm, after returning to the home to retrieve animals, the missing man contacted a friend to meet at the Goodna train station.

He hadn’t been seen or heard from since.

Updated

Many thanks again to Matilda Boseley. I’ll be with you for the rest of the day.

I’ll pass you back over to Caitlin Cassidy now to take you through the afternoon updates.

Midday flood update

Conditions are dire in Lismore, in New South Wales, where the entire CBD remains underwater.

Dozens have been forced to clamber onto their rooftops in the middle of the night, spending hours waiting to be rescued by both the State Emergency Services and private citizens with boats.

The Australian Defence Force arrived in Lismore on Monday to help the stretched emergency response crews which includes the RFS, NSW Fire and Rescue, police and ambulance and SES volunteers. But these efforts have been hampered by the extreme weather preventing access to the town from the air.

The northern NSW city recorded 181mm of rain in 30 minutes today, and it remains the focus of the emergency, facing its worst-ever flood crisis that is set to surpass the devastation caused in 1954 and 1974.

The town’s Wilsons River is expected to reach around 14.2 metres on Monday afternoon, prompting fears of unparalleled inundation in the area. The river’s previous record high of 12.27 metres occurred in 1954.

Flooding in the town of Lismore after heavy rains in northeastern New South Wales, Australia February 28, 2022.
Flooding in the town of Lismore after heavy rains in northeastern New South Wales, Australia February 28, 2022. Photograph: Reuters

Lismore Mayor, Steve Krieg, described the situation as “unprecedented”, “very dangerous and life-threatening”, while the federal Labor MP for Lismore, Janelle Saffin, said she escaped rising waters by swimming out of a house where she was sheltering, after sudden flooding left her a “sitting duck”.

Across the border in Queensland, the body of an eighth flood victim has been found.

Surf lifesavers found the bodies of a man in his 50s and his dog in a submerged car in the Currumbin Valley on Monday morning after they were swept off the road on Sunday night, police said.

Police said they also hold “grave concerns” for three men missing in the floodwaters in Brisbane, to the west at Goodna, and to the north at Glen Esk, while they are also looking for a car reportedly swept away at Yatala.

Major flooding is underway on the Brisbane, Bremer, Lockyer, Logan and Albert, Mary, North Pine, Noosa Maroochy rivers after a year’s worth of rainfall in some areas in one or two days.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the intensity of the downpours and severity of the floods were not expected.

It has been fast and it has been furious, and it has had a big impact. That is the facts.

Updated

Updated

Queensland's flood death toll rises to eight as man's body found in car

AAP is reporting that Gold Coast lifesavers have found the body of a man and his dog in a submerged car in Currumbin Valley.

This takes Queensland’s flood death toll to eight.

Updated

Residents in Lismore have taken to social media to make desperate calls for help.

Foreign Affairs minister, Marise Payne, has announced a $40m grant package to help upgrade the Nauru international airport.

Reporter Caitlin Cassidy is at the press conference now.

Updated

Lismore Mayor, Steve Krieg:

I’ve been down myself to try to help as many people as I can. We’ve got a lot of civilian craft on the water as we speak. We’ve got the defence force who have been deployed. The problem with that is getting them here. Obviously, the conditions are not suitable for flying in. Many roads are blocked. So that presents a challenge in itself ...

I’ve had conversations with Dominic Perrottet, our Premier as well, about what he can do to help. I’m actually sitting up in the council chambers now.

We’ve got an emergency room set up with our police chiefs, our ambulance officers, basically what we are in at the moment is a lifesaving operation where we have to try to save as many lives. Obviously, every life, if humanly possible. This is a catastrophic event that’s hit our city.

Updated

The Mayor of Lismore, Steve Krieg, is speaking with ABC now.

He says further storms are on their way, with many areas already in dire straights.

It’s not looking good. We’ve got our river height at 14.25 metres currently, looking to peak at about 14.4 metres ... We’ve just been warned about major storms maybe coming across the area later this afternoon. So you know, we’re not out of the woods yet. We’re hoping that at some point today, the river will peak and start dropping sometime this afternoon.

Updated

Here is an aerial view of Lismore this morning – really gives a sense of the sheer scope of damage we are talking about today.

Updated

Sydney’s main Warragamba dam is expected to spill later this week as expected rains add to inflows already pushing the reservoir close to full capacity.

According to WaterNSW, Warragamba is 98.7% full as of Monday, with about 25 gigalitres of remaining capacity.

All the city’s dams are also nearly full, at 97.4% on average. But since Warragamba accounts for about 80% of Sydney’s total capacity – an unusually large proportion for a single dam serving a big city – that’s the one worth watching.

For now, this week’s spill is not expected to be a major one but if the Queensland and northern NSW flood emergencies are any guide, it doesn’t take a lot to go from bad to seriously bad.

Climate change hasn’t had much of a look in so far in the discussions, but every degree of warming allows the atmosphere to hold 1% more moisture. Climate models have shown for decades that the wet spells will get wetter and the dry ones drier for many parts of Australia (and the world). Think of it more as climate “chaos” than “change”.

Anyway, back to Sydney. The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its forecast for Warragamba rainfall for early this week from about 10-20mm a day to a more concerning 20-35mm tomorrow and 40-60mm on Wednesday.

WaterNSW has been releasing water from the dam at 3.8 gigalitres a day in a failing bid to lower the water level one metre below full storage level, following their dam rule book. Cordeaux dam near Wollongong already started spilling over the weekend. Look out for a formal WaterNSW release later today.

One debate in Queensland is whether they should have released more water sooner to create “air space” from Wivenhoe dam. But they had much more flood mitigation capacity than Warragamba to start with, and were able to go from 50% to more than 180% full in a handful of days. They face more rain later this week.

If this week turns out to have more flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean region, expect more discussion about whether Warragamba’s dam wall should be lifted 14 metres (at a cost of $2bn, perhaps).

Updated

Modelling predicts thousands of Brisbane properties affected by flooding

There are some conflicting figures around about the number of flood-affected homes and properties in Brisbane.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, told reporters on Monday morning the state was estimating up to 15,000 homes in Brisbane impacted by flooding.

The Brisbane lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, told ABC radio on Monday that modelling showed 4,500 properties – including 2,145 residential properties – would be flooded at a four metres flood peak.

The modelling also showed more than 10,800 properties would be partially flooded if the Brisbane River reached four metres.

The Brisbane River peaked below that mark, at 3.85 metres, this morning.

A further note to all these figures – they are based on modelling, they’re not actual numbers of flooded homes as some outlets are reporting.

Updated

National Covid-19 update

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 12 deaths from Covid 19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 464
  • In hospital: 44 (with 0 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 6
  • Cases: 5,856
  • In hospital: 1,136 (with 55 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 3,467
  • In hospital: 311 (with 25 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 1
  • Cases: 1,358
  • In hospital: 109 (with 10 people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 3
  • Cases: 5,852
  • In hospital: 283 (with 42 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 0
  • Cases: 1,140 (1,136 local)
  • In hospital: 11

Updated

Check out this *almost* all-weather football pitch.

Queensland records one Covid deaths and 3,467 new infections

Let’s jump back over to the prime minister now who has been speaking in Brisbane this morning.

He says the government will be extending the areas eligible for disaster recovery payments.

Scott Morrison:

To assist that, today we’re announcing that we will be extending the Australian government’s disaster recovery payment to the following local government areas: Brisbane City, Fraser Coast, Gold Coast, Gympie, Ipswich, Lockyer Valley, Logan, Moreton Bay, Noosa, North Burnett, Redland city, Scenic Rim, Somerset, South Burnett, Southern Downs, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba and local government areas in and around the Lismore area, particularly the city of Lismore.

This is a disaster recovery payment that is for eligible people who have been directly impacted by the floods with inundation. $1,000 per eligible adult and $400 per eligible child. That is provided 100% by the Federal Government. You can access that support through the Services Australia disaster assistance phone line on 1802266 and you can also do it online ... by visiting servicesaustralia.gov.au/disaster.

Updated

That’s where the press conference has ended, the premier saying she has to get back to work.

Palaszczuk is once again on the defensive, highlighting how unpredictable the weather event over the last couple of days have been.

On Thursday, the information was [that] Friday conditions were easing. Then it changed on Friday. Conditions were going to be easing on Saturday and they didn’t. Then they would ease on Sunday and they didn’t. This is what we have had to deal with, a rapidly evolving situation.

The bureau is trying to do their best, the police and I am sure the media are trying to do their best. This was an unpredictable event. Unpredictable rain bomb over the entire[ty of] south-east Queensland. I thank Queenslanders for the great job that they are doing and together we will get through this together.

Updated

A representative from the Bureau of Meteorology says some areas in Queensland have experienced a year’s worth of rain in just a couple of days.

Some of the rainfall totals that we have seen over the course of this event have been approaching rainfall totals that we would normally expect over the course of a year. One example of this is Mount Glorious, we have seen a 1.5 metre amount of rain recorded over a week.

The average rainfall for that particular location is 1,600mm approximately and we have seen similar conditions across all of south-east Queensland. A number of locations have recorded in excess of 700mm in periods of 24 hours.

The significance of this event can’t be understated, how much rain has fallen over a large number of catchments across South East Queensland. That is why we are seeing such significant and continued dangerous conditions on our rivers right now. I spoke in more detail earlier about the Bremer, Brisbane, Logan, Albert, Mary and Noosa.

Still very much a dangerous situation, with the potential of damage to property and loss of life. If I can draw your attention back to the warnings that are in place at the moment, this is still a significant situation after an extraordinary volume of rain across south-east Queensland.

Updated

Reporter:

What do you say to angry Queenslanders because they were flooded again and we have had 10 years to plan for another event like this?

Palaszczuk:

It is tough on everybody. It is heartbreaking. I go into peoples’ homes and see it. It is absolutely heartbreaking. It is mother nature.

Palaszczuk:

What’s happened is it has been a huge response effort, usually we are dealing with issues dealing with one council or a couple of councils. This has been all of the councils in the south-east having to deal with this issue at the same time. It has been fast and it has been furious and it has had a big impact. That is the facts.

In terms of the rainfall, I might just get Diana to come back because we have been seeing these maps at these briefings. They are a sea of red, which means high extreme rainfall. I don’t know about everyone else, but last night it was like cyclonic conditions outside. The winds, the rain and ... we had two systems of thunderstorms merging last night as well during the course of the day. We didn’t know that was going to happen.

This is mother nature. I can’t control mother nature. The people of this state can’t control mother nature. Sometimes they throw stuff at us and we have to deal with it. All these emergency services people have been on the front line doing the best they possibly can.

If it wasn’t for them, there would have been a lot more loss of life. We should be thanking them for everything they have been doing. I want people to understand how much rainfall has come into these catchments and across the entire south-east.

Updated

Hello all,

Let’s jump back to the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is back up at the podium rebutting the suggestion that the state government wasn’t prepared enough for this flooding event.

We have always said that this is an extreme weather event. In parliament we talked about that, however, the bureau [Bureau of Meteorology] predictions were rapidly changing. You can talk to the bureau, they said they thought conditions were easing.

In fact that system stayed over the south-east. It is worthwhile for people to actually hear from the bureau about the levels of rainfall we got in the last 24 hours, just to give you a snapshot of the unpredictable nature of this weather system. I have been through Cyclone Debbie, ex-tropical Cyclone Oswald.

We flew in through monsoonal conditions into Townsville and if everyone can remember what happened in Townsville, it actually sat over the city and the dam but it was a longer period of time.

What happened here was everyone expected the conditions to ease but they didn’t, and this rain bomb stayed over the entire south-east and had a big impact on the catchments and the streams and everything that went into the south-east of our state.

That is unpredictable. No one - not even the bureau saw that coming.

Updated

With that, I will pass you back to Matilda Boseley who will be with you for the next little while.

Prime minister Scott Morrison has spoken to media this morning in Brisbane, urging people to act with caution amid dangerous conditions in the state’s south-east:

We don’t need to add to the terrible loss of life we have seen overnight and the people missing. We extend our deepest sympathies to those who have been directly impacted by the loss of loved ones and those who are missing.

Right now everything is being done that can be done to support people right across south east Queensland and indeed in the even more crisis situations that we are now seeing in northern NSW … we’re working closely with the NSW government to give [the people of Lismore] every support.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison Iooks over a flood map as he visits the Brisbane City Council Local Disaster Coordination Centre in Brisbane, Monday, February 28, 2022.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison Iooks over a flood map as he visits the Brisbane City Council Local Disaster Coordination Centre in Brisbane, Monday, February 28, 2022. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Morrison has said he will return to Canberra today to meet with the Emergency Management Agency.

He added that Cabinet’s national security committee will meet in the morning, to discuss both the floods and “the ongoing situation in Ukraine”.

Updated

ACT records another Covid death

The ACT’s case numbers are in. Sadly, a man in his 80s passed overnight with Covid-19.

There have been 464 new Covid cases overnight - roughly half from PCR tests and half from rapid antigen tests.

There are 44 people being treated in hospital, none of which are in intensive care.

Over in Victoria:

South-east Queensland water grid at 97%

The current level of the south-east Queensland water grid has been stable at 97% for the past 24 hours. Rainfall has “significantly eased”, though, over the catchment areas of major dams.

Dams have been “doing what they’re supposed to” to reduce natural flows, with a combination of Somerset and Wivenhoe Dam effectively having held back about 2.2m megalitres of water, compared to what has been released to date, which is about 150,000 megalitres.

The days ahead should see more settled conditions, however Wednesday will see the return of the possibility for severe thunderstorm activity.

Updated

Turning to transport, the Mount Lindesay highway is cut in some places as are M1 exits on the southern Gold Coast.

Some 99 Logan roads are closed and 53 Scenic Rim roads are shut. Some 116 roads are shut in Toowoomba, and the Cunningham highway and D’Aguilar highway remains cut in multiple places.

There is a strong push to reopen the Bruce Highway today.

On a brighter note, trams are running on the Gold Coast and ferries are running at the southern Moreton Bay Islands.

Updated

59-year-old male named as seventh flood death

The seventh death reported overnight was a 59-year-old male, swept up in floodwaters at Beams Road at Taigum in Brisbane’s north.

There remain a number of people police still hold “grave concerns” for.

Police are currently investigating reports of a missing vehicle swept into floodwaters at Yatala in the Gold Coast this morning. A male person was also seen to enter a flooded area to retrieve animals at Goodna on the edge of Ipswich last night that is being investigated. As of this morning, there is another report of a missing person near Esk.

Two days ago, a male fell from a vessel in the Brisbane River that police are still following up on.

In the past 24 hours, there were over 1,900 jobs in the south-east over flood related matters.

Police commissioner Greg Leach:

Last night was the busiest night of this campaign for Queensland Fire and Emergency Services. We received 2,200 requests for assistance to the SES and 113 calls to the fire and rescue service and water-related rescues that were carried out up until 6.30 this morning, but we’re currently involved in a number of rescue operations across Brisbane, down through Beenleigh and into the Gold Coast.

If I could acknowledge the contribution of our selfless State Emergency Service volunteers and staff who continue to be out in community doing what they can.

Updated

Queensland’s disaster coordinator is up now.

He says everyone who “got themselves into trouble” were in dangerous places, and though rain has passed, there will still be water in waterways and dangerous conditions. “The operation is not over”, he says.

As conditions ease, police will move to recovery mode when they will have a better assessment of how many houses and businesses have been impacted across Brisbane and Gympie.

That data will come later. We know with the level we have seen this morning, we are expecting many thousands of properties to have been impacted in Brisbane. We know from what is happening in Gympie, there is over 3,600 properties that we expect to have been impacted in some way. We currently have 1,544 persons in evacuation centres and there are 36 operating across the south-east corner ...

The premier mentioned the large number of persons without power. The message is: please be patient. Our authorities are working very hard to restore power but some may expect extended outages and it could take time to return that to them.

We will turn our focus to Maryborough. We are expecting a significant peak there ... we are expecting it to be around 2.7 metres or higher. We are expecting a significant flood there today. We are preparing for that. As Gympie, the water starts to reside, we are restoring services. Right across the south-east corner, we have small communities who have been isolated for some time. We have a strong focus on making sure we resupply those people and we support them.

People are seen looking at flood waters in the suburb of Rosalie in Brisbane, Australia, 28 February 2022.
People are seen looking at flood waters in the suburb of Rosalie in Brisbane, Australia, 28 February 2022. Photograph: Darren England/EPA

Updated

Eadie says the Bremer River in the Ipswich area peaked around 17 metres, with “significant” flooding in the area. There is also ongoing flooding along the Logan, Mary and Albert River:

There has also been major flooding along the Logan River, which approached levels last experienced during ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie. For the Albert, we are seeing major flooding ... and at this stage those sorts of levels are equivalent, if not exceeding those experienced during Tropical Cyclone Oswald in 2013 for those communities. Still a risk of significant flooding for those communities in those areas.

I will move onto the Mary River and for Gympie, we have seen the flood peak at a level that is above the 1999 level in Gympie. The focus ... is the Maryborough area. We could see river levels approaching those which were experienced during Cyclone Oswald of 10.7 metres for those communities. We are watching the Noosa area, particularly Tewantin could see a major flood level on the high tide this morning.

Updated

Brisbane river peaked just under four metres

Diana Eadie from the Bureau of Meteorology is up now.

She says while the most intense rain has eased for large parts of south-east Queensland, the threat continues for far southern parts of the Gold Coast and the Scenic Rim, as it shifts into north-east New South Wales.

For ... Brisbane, we have seen river levels reach 3.85 [metres] this morning and that is now easing. That was reached on the high tide this morning. There is a lot of water around still so we could see a secondary peak this evening at around about 8pm. At this stage we are expecting river levels of 3.3 metres. There is another significant peak potentially to occur tomorrow morning on the high tide at 9am, make sure you are keeping updated with the latest warnings for the Brisbane River.

Updated

Palaszczuk says the SES had 2,200 requests for assistance overnight, and conducted 113 water rescues.

There are currently 1,544 people in evacuation centres across the south-east, with more centres being opened by councils as conditions shift.

I also want to extend my gratitude and thanks to the hundreds, if not thousands of workers out there, the SES crews, police, our firies, volunteers, all of the council workers, everybody is doing an unbelievable job ... so people putting their own lives at risk to go and help fellow Queenslanders. That is an admirable trait that we have in this state, and one that I am absolutely grateful for.

If you are living in an impacted area and if you cannot remain in your home and you don’t have family or close relatives nearby, there are evacuation centres available so help is there as well.

More than 5,000 homes hit in Gympie and Brisbane

Palaszczuk says some 3,600 homes have been impacted in Gympie, and up to 1,500 houses have been impacted in Brisbane.

All trains in the south-east aren’t running, and most bus services are suspended. The Bruce Highway will open later on today.

More than 1,000 schools have been closed across the south-east.

Can I say to Queenslanders in the south-east of our state especially, we have been through a lot together. We have been through a Covid pandemic of two years and now we are going through yet another flood. Many people will have been impacted, not once, twice but maybe three times. It is still a significant event. I think everyone would agree, no-one has seen this amount of rain in such a short period of time over our entire south-east catchment zone.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is speaking from Brisbane, sending her deep condolences to the families whose loved ones have passed in the floods, and to the people of Lismore who have been told to evacuate.

She compares the weather event to Cyclone Debbie and Oswald:

Can I say to everyone living in the south-east, we have been briefed by the bureau this morning and this weather event is very similar to ex-cyclone Oswald in 2013 and bears similarities to ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017. If everyone can remember ex-tropical Cyclone Debbie went across the coast around Airlie Beach, came down to the south-east and went into northern New South Wales and ended up in New Zealand.

What we are seeing with this system at the moment is pushing further south down into Logan, the Albert, the Gold Coast and now we are seeing some of the tragedies unfolding down in northern New South Wales.

Updated

Many thanks to Matilda Boseley for guiding us through this morning’s news. We are heading now to the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, who is speaking from Brisbane.

Updated

I’ll hand you over to Caitlin Cassidy who will take you through the next hour or so of the news.

There are now severe thunderstorm warnings in both Victoria and South Australia.

Residents of the northern NSW town of Lismore are turning to social media to post pleas for help as the town faces never-before-seen flood levels.

The town’s levee was breached this morning and is expected to peak at 14.20 metres this afternoon. The entire Northern Rivers has been issued with a flood evacuation warning but many in Lismore are trapped in their homes or being forced onto their roofs.

The Resilient Lismore Facebook group features one post after another of people listing their addresses and asking for help.

Earlier today, emergency services backflipped on a request for locals with boats to help with evacuations, saying it is now too dangerous.

In Mullumbimby, residents are also calling for help through Facebook community pages, with families stuck on roofs in Station Street, New City Road and Queen Street.

Updated

Here is a look at the intense rainfall the Brisbane areas experienced in the last 24 hours.

Victoria is sending 15 emergency personnel to south east Queensland to assist flood rescue teams.

Updated

For those in the Gold Coast in need of sandbags:

Updated

Australia lists Russia as 'do not travel' zone

Australia has now listed Russia as a “do not travel” zone.

Updated

There are now 53,000 homes without power across south-east Queensland.

Updated

Scott Morrison to speak with Ukrainian president

Updated

Bruce Lehrmann assembling fresh legal team for possible trial delay

The prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins was in the ACT supreme court today for a callover (mention).

The acting chief justice, Michael Elkaim, asked if Lehrmann’s legal team was going to apply for a permanent stay. This follows comments from his legal team questioning whether he is able to get a fair trial due to the amount of public discussion of the case.

John Korn replied there had been “no talk of a permanent stay” and there is currently no application at present.

Korn said:

For a variety of reasons, for the moment that is all I can say. That’s not to say there won’t be [an application for a stay], hopefully there will be. I won’t be counsel if there is such an application. [He is] getting a different legal team that can look after that.

Justice Elkaim said he had been told to say if there is to be an application, it should be in by mid-March.

The matter is going to be called over again for a brief mention before the chief justice on Thursday 10 March. Korn said he hoped to be able to explain Lehrmann’s position then.

Shane Drumgold, the ACT director of public prosecutions, told the court this is the first he’d heard of the possible application.

The matter is still listed for a four to five week trial beginning 6 June.

Earlier in June, Scott Morrison clarified an apology to victims of harassment in Australian Parliament House, stating it was “by no means a reflection on the matters before a court”.

Updated

Flood summary

Okay, so it’s a bit confusing so here is a recap of the situation this morning.

The Brisbane River has believed to have peaked around 8am this morning at 4.0 meters, with large amounts of debris, boats and even potentially small homes seen floating down it. Across the south-east of the state, thousands of homes have now been evacuated and thousands of schools have been closed.

However, it appears the worst of damage this morning has been focused in the northern NSW town of Lismore, which is now facing its worst flooding on record, placing extreme pressure on emergency services.

About 15,000 people have been evacuated on the north coast and the entire Lismore CBD is inundated after days of unrelenting torrential rain, as the town braces for its worst-ever flood crisis that will surpass the devastation caused in 1974 and 1954, reports AAP.

The Bureau of Meteorology says Lismore’s Wilsons River could reach around 14.20 metres on Monday afternoon, stoking fears of unprecedented inundation in the area. The previous high of 12.27 metres was registered in 1954.

The Mayor says the city’s SES only has two boats and has taken to social media to urge people with private vessels to help enter the township and rescue the hundreds of people now sheltering in their attics and on top of their roofs. However, the SES now say in some areas it is simply too dangerous for untrain rescue operations.

Emergency services have now confirmed at least seven people have died in the floodwaters.

Updated

A reminder that we should be hearing from the Queensland premier in about 20 minutes with an update on the Brisbane flood situation

Hundreds of people have taken to social media to beg for those with private boats to help stranded loved ones. Here is a just a small portion of these posts.

More from Brisbane:

Just for a brief change of pace. Here are some Ukrainian farmers stealing a Russian tank.

Here are the scenes back up north from Brisbane.

More from Lismore.

NSW records six Covid deaths and 5,856 new cases

Victoria records three Covid deaths and 5,852 new infections

The Lismore Mayor has been posting to Facebook urging people with private boats to help those in dire straits.

In the comments, someone has posted about their friend in a wheelchair who is stuck in his home.

Our friend is in 72 Casino St South Lismore, he is in a wheelchair with MS, he and his wife are stuck in there house with water up to his lap.

They have called 000 but no one can get to them. So scared.

Also, my 85yr old dad is on the roof of his house at 39 Casino St. Both houses have never had water in them ever.

We are out of town so can’t get in ... so scared

Updated

PM offers military support to Lismore

ABC News Breakfast is reporting that the prime minister has offered military support to the NSW premier to help with rescue operations in Lismore.

A woman named Katie Davey in Lismore, who is trapped on the roof of their home, has told ABC New Breakfast that she can hear an elderly couple trapped in their roof cavity unable to get out as floodwaters rise.

We have an elderly couple next to us who are stuck in their roof cavity. They can’t get out. They’re banging on the roof and screaming for help and we can’t help them.

Host Michael Rowland:

And the water is rising in their house?

Davey:

Yeah, it’s – it’s rising rapidly, like, they desperately need help. And every house in our street, if you look, there’s people perched on their roof.

Rowland:

Just going back to that elderly couple – I want to make this clear – they’re stuck inside the roof cavity?

Davey:

Inside their roof. Their house number is 213 Casino Street in South Lismore and [they’re] stuck in their roof.

Updated

Some more scenes from the catastrophically high flood waters in Lismore, just below the Queensland border.

An emergency alert has been issued for Loganholme this morning, with flood waters expected to rise 1.5m above the 2017 high.

Brisbane residents face an anxious morning, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing a major flood warning overnight after a “rain bomb” dumped more than 400mm of rain on parts of the already-sodden city on Sunday.

The discovery of a man’s body in Brisbane’s north took the death toll from these floods to seven, while two more people remain missing.

Flood waters in the Brisbane CBD were expected to peak at 4.0 metres at high tide, slightly below the peak of 4.46 metres recorded in 2011, but authorities warned the two flood events were very different and some suburbs have already experienced worse damage than in 2011.

You can read the full report from Ben Smee and Tory Shepherd below:

Updated

Guardian reporter Ben Smee is out in Brisbane this morning, bringing up the updates.

If it's flooded, forget it: Morrison

Scott Morrison has spoken to 4BC Radio in Brisbane about flooding throughout Queensland and northern NSW.

Morrison said it was a “very serious and anxious time” and the commonwealth has “activated assistance in a range of areas”, including the ADF and emergency payments of $1,000 for each adult and $400 for each child to flow from tomorrow.

He said:

The most important thing is to be in a safe place, because moving around is very dangerous. If it’s flooded, forget it. If you are in a place of safety, remain there ... [People think] ‘I could get across there, I need this’. But a moment’s convenience could turn very fatal.

Morrison also spoke about Australia’s announcement it would finance lethal aid for Ukraine to combat the Russian invasion. A further humanitarian aid package is also being developed.

Asked about Vladimir Putin putting nuclear forces on high alert, Morrison said it was a “reckless thing to say in these circumstances”. The invasion has “focused the minds of the world” on the division between “autocratic, bullying states” and “liberal democracies that aren’t going to stand for it”, he said.

Updated

Evacuation order for Lismore

There is widespread flooding in the Northern Rivers district of NSW and authorities have ordered people in the city of Lismore to evacuate as the Wilson River broke its levee overnight, AAP reports.

The entire Lismore CBD is inundated after days of unrelenting torrential rain and the Bureau of Meteorology says the Wilson River could peak at 13.5 metres on Monday night, meaning the city is facing its worst flooding in nearly 50 years.

“Flood levels are expected to exceed those seen in 2017 and may reach the 1974 flood level,” the BoM says.

A severe weather warning has been issued for the Northern Rivers and parts of the Mid North Coast and Northern Tablelands.

There is flooding across the region, many roads are cut and the State Emergency Service is warning people to heed warnings and avoid entering floodwaters.

The BoM is warning of the potential for life-threatening flash flooding with six-hourly rainfall totals between 80-120mm likely, possibly reaching in excess of 150mm.

The Richmond River is causing major flooding at Kyogle, Coraki and Bungawalbyn, moderate flooding at Woodburn, and minor flooding at Wiangaree and Casino.

South Murwillumbah has also been evacuated as roads are cut and the only way out is by boat.

The SES ordered the town of Mullumbimby to evacuate on Monday morning as the area is threatened by rapidly rising floodwaters from the Brunswick River.

Fire and Rescue and the State Emergency Service have been door knocking to ensure people evacuate.

Updated

Frydenberg says Putin has territorial ambitions beyond just Ukraine

Josh Frydenberg was asked if he believed the Russian president Vladimir Putin could turn the invasion into Ukraine nuclear.

He says it’s no secret that Putin may have ambitions beyond simply controlling Ukraine.

No one wants to see an escalation ... but these are the dangers of the times and the insanity of what Putin has done ... I’m worried there could be an escalation beyond the borders ...

I’m worried that there could be an escalation beyond the borders and no doubt. That’s what other European nations or neighbouring countries are concerned about ...

I don’t think it’s a secret that, I think it’s know that he’s got a greater Russia objective here.

Updated

Frydenberg discusses financial support for Ukraine

Australia has again escalated our economic support of Ukraine, committing to buying lethal weapons to help them repel invading Russian forces.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is speaking to ABC radio about this now.

Just to get a sense of when will we find out the amount of money we’re committing to this issue ... we’re working the details through you will find out probably today.

I mean, we’re going to start with an initial payment. It will be in the millions, and it’s not going to be the same sort of quantum that United States or the United Kingdom would provide but you know, where we can ...

We’ve been very forthright in calling on the United States and European partners to remove Russia’s access to Swift, the international payment system which is so important is so important for Russian companies in Russian banks.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. Photograph: Reuters

Updated

Good morning

Good morning all, it’s Matilda Boseley here to bring you all the news updates this morning.

Of course, we have to start in Queensland where the death toll from the flood has risen to seven after a 59-year-old Carseldine man died at Fitzgibbon, a suburb north of Brisbane, on Sunday afternoon.

Police say he was trying to cross Cabbage Tree Creek on foot when he was swept away. Two witnesses raised the alarm and went to his aid but despite their best efforts and those of attending paramedics he died at the scene.

Major flood warnings are in place for areas from Gympie in Queensland to Grafton in northern NSW, as the intense rain storm moves south over the border.

While the rain has eased, Brisbane’s lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, said that flood water is set to peak at 4m around 8am today, a full meter higher than yesterday’s peak.

At the moment in Brisbane, we have around 200 to 300 people in the evacuation centres.

In terms of SES calls, just yesterday, we had almost 1,000 SES calls for help ... There have been a lot of lives saved already, but, tragically, still too many lives have been lost and that’s why we’re saying – stay away, stay indoors, stay safe.

Almost a thousand schools will be closed in 13 local government areas on Monday, and residents are being warned to avoid all nonessential travel.

Transport and main roads minister Mark Bailey says there will be significant road closures and limited public transport options across the region.

We’ve had to close parts of the Gateway Motorway, Ipswich Motorway, Bruce Highway, and dozens of major roads across south-east Queensland.

In some areas, including Lismore, even houses on stilts are flooding, with residents forced to shelter on their roofs and await rescue.

I’ll bring you more updates throughout the morning. Let’s jump into the day.

Updated

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