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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani (now) and Calla Wahlquist (earlier)

10m Australians under weather warning as two systems collide – as it happened

What we learned today, Monday 21 March 2021

And with that, we will wrap up this blog for tonight. Here’s a quick summary of everything that went down today:

  • The Bureau of Meteorology has not forecast any easing of conditions, with flooding expert Justin Robinson saying this is the worst flood in 20 years.
  • Major flooding was seen today along the Hawkesbury River, the Macleay River, the Wollombi Brook, Rickabys Creek, Widemere Detention Basin and the Colo River.
  • Much of the east coast has been issued a severe weather warning, as well as parts of Queensland, Victoria, the ACT, the Northern Territory and South Australia, in an area almost the size of Alaska, and covers 10 million Australians.
  • It is forecast that Sydney will face another 40 to 80mm of rain over the next 24 to 36 hours. The bureau said that some areas had received “close to one metre of rain” in the past four days.
  • NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian said these floods were unlike any seen before, encouraged people to attend their vaccination appointments, and said it was a “miracle” no one has lost their life.
  • At least 36 schools in NSW have been damaged by the floods, with 151 schools closed today and another 20 were open but with “minimal supervision”.
  • Parts of western Sydney, including Penrith and Jamisontown, were issued all-clears by the SES, allowing residents there to return home, as evacuation warnings were issued to Rickabys Creek and the Widemere Detention Basin area.

We will continue our flood coverage as the rain continues to pelt much of the east coast, but please stay safe wherever you, try and stay off the roads and check with the SES for any emergency alerts for your area.

Updated

The NSW floods have hit TikTok:

Updated

The deputy commissioner at the New South Wales SES, Daniel Austin, is on the ABC right now, and said that the SES doesn’t bandy about the term “life-threatening” lightly, but said these floods were a very ‘serious situation’:

This is a highly dynamic situation. We have seen flood records broken in a number of places. The sheer volume of rain falling in locations, people that have lived lifelong have never seen some of those kinds of rainfall.

Certainly a very serious situation. We don’t use the terminology around life-threatening flash flooding without due course. So when we start using those kinds of statements, there is a real reason for that. That is because we do think the scenario really does have that potential.

So we will continue to monitor this as it unfolds, continue to deal with what the weather throws at us. And together, not only with emergency services, but partners in the community, we will get through this.

He said there were some communities that were caught ‘unaware’ by the situation, and by the sheer weight of the deluge:

As I said, we saw record totals at almost 400mm at places in the day. Places that were just inundated within a matter of hours. The community by and large has certainly done the right thing by us, working with us, in many cases exceptionally resilient, and in a number of cases, taking care of themselves.

Finally, he’s also asked people to not head down to river banks to take a look at the flooding, saying it is ‘not a place to be a spectator.’

Windsor Bridge, the supposedly ‘floodproof’ bridge, has been underwater for some time today, with residents watching on:

Onlookers watch the submerged New Windsor Bridge at Windsor in the north west of Sydney, Australia, 22 March 2021.
Onlookers watch the submerged New Windsor Bridge at Windsor in the north west of Sydney, Australia, 22 March 2021. Photograph: Dean Lewin/EPA
Thousands of residents are fleeing their homes, schools are shut, and scores of people have been rescued as NSW is hit by once-in-a-generation flooding.
Thousands of residents are fleeing their homes, schools are shut, and scores of people have been rescued as NSW is hit by once-in-a-generation flooding. Photograph: Dean Lewin/AAP
A woman takes a selfie in front of a flooded bridge in the suburb of Windsor as the state of New South Wales experiences widespread flooding and severe weather, in Sydney, Australia, March 22, 2021.
A woman takes a selfie in front of a flooded bridge in the suburb of Windsor as the state of New South Wales experiences widespread flooding and severe weather, in Sydney, Australia, March 22, 2021. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters
Onlookers watch the submerged New Windsor Bridge at Windsor in the north west of Sydney, Monday, March 22, 2021.
Onlookers watch the submerged New Windsor Bridge at Windsor in the north west of Sydney, Monday, March 22, 2021. Photograph: Dean Lewin/AAP

Updated

Also, just building on the Bureau’s post earlier, they say that 10 million people (!!) in every mainland state except WA (!!!) is under a weather warning:

Comboyne, one of the NSW towns hardest hit with rain, is, ironically, having trouble accessing water.

Comboyne, which lies west of Port Macquarie, has recorded a whopping 889mm of rain since Thursday morning.

But Mayor Peta Pinson of the Port-Macquarie Hastings Council told the Guardian that a break in the water main has cut off the town’s access to drinkable water.

“We had a water mains break, which might have been because of enormous pressure due to the storm, but we are doing investigations,” Pinson said.

“Thankfully a lot of people up there are already on tank water, which they have plenty of. No one is going to go thirsty, it’s just a huge inconvenience. Our people in the more west regions, they are really tight-knit communities … so our job is to get the water main fixed as quickly as possible.”

Residents have been advised to preserve and bottle water, as the water main could take two or three days to restore.

The region usually has fairly high rainfall, so while over 800mm in less than a week is excessive, Pinson said the valleys are running off really well.

Even so, Comboyne Road and Lorne Road is currently closed, according to the Port Macquarie News, and some locals have taken to Twitter, worried they could become isolated due to flooding.

Updated

NSW SES has issued an update on the flooding at Rickabys Creek at Clarendon, saying residents need to prepare for evacuation.

The SES is asking residents to prepare for an evacuation order, which has not yet been issued but might be inevitable as the rain continues to come down.

A Flood Evacuation Order will be issued by the NSW SES if evacuation is required.

A stray stingray has been pulled to safety in Port Macquarie’s North Shore, after it managed to get into a garage there:

The latest from the Bureau of Meteorology shows a map of the current sever weather warnings, and it is an eye-poppingly large map.

A severe weather warning has been issued for six (!!) states and territories, with eastern and northern NSW the hardest hit.

A horse rescue effort has been captured by the Channel Seven news helicopter, with people gathering around the Hawkesbury to help out:

Mayor Peta Pinson of the Port-Macquarie Hastings Council told Guardian Australia that the region is watching, and bracing, for the next 24 hours of rain.

“We don’t know what sort of rainfall we will receive in the coming day – it could be anything between 80mm to 200mm, but we’ve already got our water tables saturated, the ground can’t take any more, our rivers and creeks are swollen,” Pinson said.

“We are just waiting for this crisis to come to an end so we can actually get on the recovery phase.”

NSW’s mid-north coast is facing the worst flooding conditions since 1929. Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters this morning that around 15,000 mid-north coast residents had been evacuated.

Pinson said that residents are anxious to return to their homes.

“They are terrified of what they are going to come across.”

She added that they are seeing a spike in panic buying after the Pacific Highway was blocked by flood waters, stopping food delivery trucks from entering the region and replenishing supermarket stores.

“There is a long way to go when the rains stop, and I think the shock of the magnitude of the damage is going to be quite surprising and I’m not prepared for it myself,” she said.

“We have such a pretty region, we are known for it because of the people who holiday with us ... and we are a bit of a mess at the moment.”

Updated

Evacuation warnings have been issued by SES NSW for Rickabys Creek and the Widemere Detention Basin area.

The SES is advising people in those areas to be prepared for a potential evacuation order later today, as a result of rising flood waters.

Residents are advised to monitor the situation and be prepared to evacuate when called to do so.

A woman who yesterday made a desperate plea on Twitter to somehow get to her wedding venue among flooding on the mid-north coast has successfully walked down the aisle:

Affinity Helicopters ended up helping jet the woman to her wedding venue, thankfully saving the day. No one forgets their wedding day (right?) but I’m sure this couple will remember every little detail.

A moderate flood warning has been issued for the upper Nepean River, at the Menangle Bridge.

The SES said the river may reach moderate flood levels, rising just above 9 metres, at around 6pm tonight.

At Wallacia Weir, the river is expected to remain above the minor flood level of 5 metres today, with renewed rises still possible with forecast rainfall.

Updated

An elderly woman with a broken hip has been successfully rescued in Kempsey, after a multi-agency effort.

The NSW SES, Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Ambulance were all involved in the rescue:

It comes as NSW deputy premier John Barilaro arrived in Kempsey today to support the community, posting a video of what used to be paddocks:

Updated

It’s been a terribly tragic couple of days in Port Macquarie, but it appears not everyone was bogged down by it all:

So, in some better news, parts of Western Sydney, including Penrith and Jamisontown have been issued an all-clear by the SES, allowing residents to return home.

The following areas have been issued the all-clear:

  • Properties within the area bounded by the Nepean River, south of the Great Western Highway and west of Peach Tree Creek which includes: Captains Road; Fitch Avenue; Ladbury Avenue; Memorial Avenue; Nepean Avenue and Recreation Avenue.
  • Properties in the immediate vicinity of Cables Wake Park; the area bounded by the Nepean River, Jamison Road and Peach Tree Creek.
  • Properties bounded by Jamison road, Surveyors Creek, Blaikie Road, the rear of the Penrith Homemaker Centre, Western Motorway and Nepean River.
  • Properties along Martin Street between the Mulgoa Creek and the Nepean River.

The SES yesterday ordered around 1,000 people from western Sydney to evacuate or face being trapped by floodwaters.

A playground is inundated in Jamisontown.
A playground is inundated in Jamisontown. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

Updated

The Colo River, which is just north of Windsor, in north-west Sydney, has passed 14m much earlier than expected.

The Bureau of Meteorology had earlier today warned that the river, which flows into the Hawkesbury River, would reach 14 metres by tonight.

But the latest Bureau reading at around 1pm showed that the river had hit 14.8m, with major flooding in the region.

Our disaster indexes have been updated to reflect the regions in NSW that have been declared natural disaster zones due to the floods:

The table combines data covering a range of crises, including the pandemic, to produce a disaster index. It’s a good way to observe the intersection between different disasters, and to see how much some people have been through in the past 12 months.

You can also see the data laid out in a map below:

Updated

Greater resources for climate change-related natural disasters needed, NSW fire brigade union says

The Fire Brigade Employees’ Union is calling for greater resources in response to climate change-related natural disasters.

The union is urging the NSW government to increase their allocated resources in response to a growing number of climate related natural disasters.

Leighton Drury, NSW state secretary of the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union said in a statement that emergency responders need greater resources to be able to better respond to the crisis’:

Fire Rescue NSW (FRNSW) currently have multiple strike teams and swift water rescue teams in the field. That’s on top of response to normal daily demands. The reality is when your life shatters, firefighters are there when it matters.

It’s obvious that the government doesn’t want to spend money on protecting communities but to prevent blowouts in response times we need more fire stations and firefighters to serve the community.

This disaster and last year’s bushfires show that the government needs to plan and prepare for the worst case scenario in emergency services. Sadly, the Berejiklian government closes its eyes when the worst happens.

Updated

Former NRL Star Jarryd Hayne has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in Newcastle in 2018.

The former NRL star had pleaded not guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault

After nearly 18 hours of deliberations that began last Wednesday, the Sydney district court jury on Monday found him not guilty of both counts of aggravated sexual intercourse without consent inflicting actual bodily harm.

But Hayne was found guilty of two alternative counts of sexual intercourse without consent.

You can read more on the story here:

In some good news, NSW SES has rescued two goats from floodwaters in Windsor earlier today:

Good afternoon from a very wet western Sydney, where I’ll be blogging from today. It is bucketing down around here, but thankfully we haven’t seen much flooding in my suburb, unlike some of the regions further west who’ve been facing a once-in-a-lifetime flood.

A quick thanks to Calla for helping us through the morning’s news.

There’s still much to get through, so let’s get stuck in.

On that note I will hand over to Mostafa Rachwani, who will continue bringing you rolling coverage of the flood event.

Stay safe, follow emergency services directions, and please don’t drive into floodwater.

Updated

Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said that some of those affected by floods have faced disaster after disaster.

Right now, some of our fellow Australians are wondering when they are going to get a break. Many have lived through drought, then came the fires, then the pandemic, and now this flood.

Albanese said Australians should be concerned that it is, once again, setting national disaster records. He doesn’t mention climate change.

Like the bushfires, the floods have had a terrible familiarity, but as with the fires, we should be concerned that records are being broken. Some are records that have stood untouched for longer than most of us have been alive and it’s not over yet. The rain keeps coming, falling onto already waterlogged ground that can’t take so much as another drop. We can always be confident that our national character will not be found wanting when it is put to the test, but it is being put to the test so often.

Updated

Morrison warned the damage from the floods could be significant.

This is an ongoing situation that is evolving and is extremely dangerous. And we are meeting regularly to be updated on the events and to direct our response. We are grateful at this point that no lives have been lost so far.

But weakened foundations for buildings, of roads and trees, they all create risk as do downed power lines and rising water levels. So we ask all Australians in these affected areas to please use caution. Check and on your neighbours and those who you know that are alone.

He continued:

As is appropriate at this time, many members supporting their communities are not here in this place. Another deputy premised and the minister for government services and other ministers are also reaching out and working closely with the mayors and other communities ensuring they receive every support. This will be a very difficult week for hundreds of thousands of Australians if not more as we face the immediacy of the floods, and there will be many difficult months ahead as the cleanup and recovery from this natural disaster gets under way.

We have very competent agencies and our state governments are very good at dealing with these types of emergencies. They are doing a tremendous job right now and theAustralian government is standing together with them in ensuring they can be delivering on this most urgent of times. But above all, we rely on Australians themselves. They have shown, as we came together, we can get through these things when we work together, and that is what we will do in the hours, days, weeks and months ahead, responding to this disaster like those before and then rebuilding and recovering afterwards.

Warragamba Dam reached capacity last week and is at its highest level since 2016.
Warragamba Dam reached capacity last week and is at its highest level since 2016. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Updated

Scott Morrison addresses parliament about the floods

Prime minister Scott Morrison is addressing parliament about the floods.

Mr Speaker, Australia is being tested once again. The east coast of Australia, predominantly New South Wales but also in south-east Queensland, has experienced an extraordinary deluge over recent days. Rains are expected for at least the next 24 and 48 hours.

In south-east Queensland, there has been intense rainfall with more than 300 SES requests for assistance, over the 24 hours until this morning with crews working through the night.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for western and southern Queensland from this afternoon, which could extend to the south-east coast tomorrow morning. A number of flood warnings remain in place for parts of the state also. Some parts of New South Wales are experiencing the worst flooding in 50 years, from Penrith to the north of Port Macquarie. Evacuation orders are in place for 28 areas with a further 16 areas issued with an evacuation warning.

In the Hawkesbury, Nepean Valley there has been a record rainfall. On Saturday 500GL of water was released from Warragamba Dam. That is, to put it in perspective of, that is equivalent of releasing the capacity of the entire Sydney Harbour in 24 hours. The water flowed into the Nepean and Hawkesbury rivers causing the river to rise to a level not seen since 1961.

He continued:

I want to acknowledge and pay tribute and say thank you on behalf of all of us here in this place Mr Speaker for the extraordinary efforts of our volunteers and the emergency services and responding to this terrible event. And there is a serious risk still ahead. Heavy rainfall is likely to continue up much of the eastern half of New South Wales and into southern Queensland today and tomorrow. Heavy falls will also develop over northern and central inland parts of New South Wales tomorrow, bringing the risk of flash and significant river flooding to several additional catchments. A different low pressure system is also expected to form off the southern New South Wales coast, bringing rainfall they are also.

Thankfully, the current forecast has conditions easing statewide from early Wednesday but we will watch and see. Mr Speaker, I want to assure residents and all storm and flood affected areas that all parts of government are working closely together.

Morrison said he had been speaking with NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian over the weekend and the ADF was preparing for an official request for assistance, which he expected would be made today.

We understand that this is likely to be for recovery support and cleanup operations including personnel, vehicles and machinery stopping the premier and they were discussing that over the weekend. We have also been just advised now in discussions on the potential for heavy lift aerial support but this is also still to be scoped.

Updated

WIRES wildlife rescue service says it is receiving calls to rescue native animals stranded in floodwaters.

It has offered the following advice to people who find wildlife:

Coping with extreme weather results in stress and shock for wildlife and birds are often the most impacted by becoming water logged, unable to fly and seabirds and young sea turtles can be blown or swept off course and be found exhausted on beaches or even many kilometres inland

If you find a bird in this state, you can pick them up by gently wrapping them in a small towel or soft cloth with no loose threads, where it is safe to do so. Then, take them inside and place in a ventilated box large enough for the bird to stand, place a soft cloth on the bottom of the box and let the bird warm up and dry out in peace and quiet.

Please do not feed the bird. If you feel it needs food please call WIRES for advice first on 1300 094 737.

Once the weather has settled and the bird has dried out, it can be taken back outside for release. To do this, open the box slowly and move back. The bird should fly away. If this does not happen please call WIRES for further advice.

After wild weather you may also see freshwater turtles or other reptiles in unusual places. If a turtle’s shell is cracked or there is sign of injury it’s advisable you take it to the nearest veterinarian. Otherwise you can re-locate it near a safe freshwater source.

Small possums and gliders may also be found under trees after severe storms – we suggest that you check the hollows of any fallen trees if it is safe to do so.

A wallaby and native birds owned by local keeper Paul Zammit are seen on the back of a ute in McGrath’s Hill after being rescued by Paul’s best friend Richard Gretch (pictured)a. Paul’s property was inundated with flood waters, leaving his hundreds of birds and mammals at risk. ‘All of the animals survived, but they are soaked’ said Paul. Several western suburbs in the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley have been forced to evacuate as river levels and floodwaters continue to rise. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)
A wallaby and native birds owned by local keeper Paul Zammit are seen on the back of a ute in McGrath’s Hill after being rescued by Paul’s best friend Richard Gretch (pictured). Paul’s property was inundated with flood waters, leaving his hundreds of birds and mammals at risk. ‘All of the animals survived, but they are soaked’ Paul said. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Updated

The New Windsor Bridge, built last year to be “floodproof”, is under water.

The new bridge is 3m higher on one bank and 6m higher on the other bank than the old bridge.

With flood waters expected to peak at 13m later today, it’s not high enough.

The New Windsor Bridge is seen inundated by flood waters from the Nepean River at Windsor in the north west of Sydney, Australia, 22 March 2021.
The New Windsor Bridge is seen inundated by flood waters from the Nepean River at Windsor in the north west of Sydney, Australia, 22 March 2021. Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

The ABC is reporting that 18,000 people have been evacuated due to floods in NSW – that’s 3,000 in western and northwest of Sydney, and 15,000 on the mid north coast.

Robinson said the flooding in western NSW would last for a “much longer period of time” because, unlike in coastal communities, the rain can’t escape out to the ocean.

Some locations like Taree had virtually record flooding so those communities do not want to have another flood event this week. But our hope is over the next few days, we will start seeing that weather easing and then we will see some of that flood potentially easing as well. But in western New South Wales, obviously the water does not head out to the ocean so we expect to see the flooding in those locations last for longer period of time.

Updated

Robinson said the areas of most concern today and tonight are communities along the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. So Penrith, Windsor, North Richmond, Wiseman’s Ferry.

Flooding will also impact Sydney more generally, with another 50 to 100mm of rain forecast to fall in the next 24-hours.

Jane Golding said the South Coast was also expected to get between 200 and 300mm of rain tomorrow. The mid-north coast could get another 100mm, as could the western slopes, north western slopes and plains.

We have been watching some storms out near Tibooburra dropping really intense rains as that heads towards those areas. As Justin said, it is a statewide event of concern that we are facing. We are urging residents across the state to stay on top of the warnings issued and the advice of emergency services.

State Emergency Service personnel transport a dentist by boat from the suburb of Windsor to North Richmond across floodwaters, so he can attend to patients unreachable by car.
State Emergency Service personnel transport a dentist by boat from the suburb of Windsor to North Richmond across floodwaters, so he can attend to patients unreachable by car. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Updated

BoM flood forecaster: 'Worst flooding' I've seen in 20 years on the job

BoM flooding expert Justin Robinson said this is the worst flooding event he has seen in 20 years as a flood forecaster in NSW.

My thoughts go out to those impacted communities and individuals. This has been a very significant flood event for New South Wales. I have been a flood forecaster with the bureau for 20 years and this is probably the worst flooding that I have experienced and I have had to forecast.

He said some locations have seen the worst flooding since 1961, and in Penrith the flood peaked yesterday afternoon at levels higher than the 1961 levels.

The peak of 10m was reached at Penrith at 6pm yesterday. The peak at Windsor is expected to be 13m later this afternoon.

Robinson said heavy rainfall over the next few days would cause “renewed flooding” in communities in the mid-north coast.

Last night at Kempsey, we had wherever levels rise to pretty much the same level but impacted just one or two days ago. They are not just the only community impacted. We have also extended the flood watch to cover areas of inland New South Wales and are particularly concerned about the north-western catchments of New South Wales. We might see some potentially moderate or major flooding at some locations so we are looking at the areas of the Upper McIntyre, Inverell, Ashford, these locations might potentially see major flooding. The Namoi, we might see moderate or major flooding develop. It is still early days with the rainfall forecast ...

There is one message I want to give to impacted residence. Keep across the bureau’s updated flood warnings. They provide detailed forecasts for all the impacted communities. And keep across the information being provided from your local SES.

Updated

The bureau’s Jane Golding said the rain is set to continue due to a combination of a slow-moving coastal trough and a new system coming down from the west.

With this approach of the new system coming through, the system coming through from the west, which is approaching today, we expect this heavy rain to fall on areas that haven’t seen as much rain over the last few days.

We expect the flood risk to develop in those areas as well. Severe weather warnings reissued again this morning, extended to include the south coast district board tomorrow and the western district of New South Wales for today and tomorrow. Those areas are west of the divide on the western slopes, Moree, Dubbo, Armidale, Tamworth, down to the central west slope can see increases in rainfalls over the next 24-36 hours and tomorrow the focus will shift over towards the south coast.

The flood risk, we expect clearance from the system to occur either late tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on which part of the state you’re in. The flood risk will continue for several days.

Updated

The Bureau of Meteorology is giving an update on the floods in NSW now. They said some locations had received “close to one metre of rain” in the past four days.

Some areas of NSW have recorded double or triple their usual monthly March rainfall total, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

There has been a lot of discussion of the Warragamba Dam, and specifically whether raising the wall would protect western Sydney from this kind of flooding.

We looked into this issue in August, when the dam hit 100% capacity.

At the time, experts said an uncontrolled spill of the dam was “possible, but not expected” and would require a “significant rain event”. Check.

Raising the dam wall would also have a significant environmental impact and destroy 50 Aboriginal heritage sites.

Our environment team is looking at this issue again today in light of the floods, but here’s where the debate stood last year:

Updated

A severe weather warning has been issued for southern and western Queensland.

Kempsey’s mayor, Liz Campbell, said the levee protecting the town was still holding, but there remained a risk it would be breached. She told the ABC:

We are steady and holding. In fact, it has probably decreased a little bit from the peak at around 11am. But we are really on watch and see and tenterhooks because it depends on what comes from up river as to whether we go from here.

What will happen if the levee is breached?

The water will come into the CBD. We are already under evacuation orders and have been since late Friday night. They would remain in place until the levee goes down to around six metres. So it is very much a wait-and-see game until we get down to a level where we can let people come back. We had 80 people at the evacuation centre last night and people are still very much on high alert.

Campbell said the town had “gotten used to evacuation centres”.

It is just over 12 months since we had the bushfires.

She said farmers downriver of Kempsey, on the flood plain, were doing it tough.

People that have dairy farms are having to get their cattle to higher ground so that they can get milked, and it has come off the back of the drought so it is pretty hard.

It was difficult to say how bad the damage would be once the water subsided, she said, but the “roads are not going to be in very good shape at all”.

For our farmers, it is going to be pretty hard for them to feed [stock]. We have already lost a couple of bridges. The recovery is going to be tough because a lot of the communities that are affected now are the same ones that have been affected through fire, through drought and through the isolation that we have had over the last 12 months ... But we are already working on recovery, even though we are still going through the event.

Updated

Devastating photos of the area around the Hawkesbury River today.

Jackson Browne, a senior meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, gave the ABC a very blunt rainfall update.

ABC News24 host Ros Childs: “How much rain is on the way?”

Browne: “A considerable amount of rain is on the way.”

He continued:

We have just reissued our severe weather warning for New South Wales and more of the state is under warning than not.

Browne says the heaviest rainfalls have been recorded on the mid-north coast around Port Macquarie, where rain totals for the five-day event are approaching 800mm.

So we could see locations creep in over one metre for the flood event.

Those severe weather warnings stretch up and over the Queensland border and back down to the Victorian border, and they are creeping south.

It is very likely we will see a severe weather warning issued for parts of Gippsland [in Victoria].

Updated

A Guardian reader sent in this image of a landslide blocking Pee Dee Road near Bellbrook, about 50km from Kempsey. It is blocking residents in those upriver properties from getting into town, they said.

The landslide and flooding has affected Pee Dee Station in the Macleay Valley, a fourth-generation cattle farm.

If you have any photos or video of the floodwaters near your place, reach out to Antoun at Antoun.Issa@theguardian.com.

Updated

Family had to swim out of their living room and canoe to safety

Megan Nourse says it only took 10 minutes on Friday for the heavy rains at Telegraph Point in NSW to turn terrifying.

It came quite slowly at the start, which is what it normally does, but then it just came so fast.

It was coming through the lounge room windows before we knew it, it was just so quick.

Suddenly, Nourse said, it felt like she was in a nightmare, swimming in her own living room, trying to find her 17-year-old son and yelling to her daughter to get out.

We had to swim under the door frame. My son got the canoe out and was secured at the front entry to way above the veranda. We swam out there and he canoed us out, and then he was canoeing back to our top story lounge room and windows to get our dogs out.

The family of three stayed with a neighbour the first night, and were eventually evacuated from town and took refuge at a family member’s home.

The flood waters rose again on Sunday night, after they had evacuated. All but the top story of their house has been severely damaged, and the bags they packed in haste now contain their only undamaged possessions.

While the humans and dogs were able to make it to safety, Nourse said she was worried for the safety of Luna the pig who was too big to fit on the boat.

All they could do was open all the door to the top level of the house, above the water line, and hope that stayed she up there when the second flood came.

I just really hope that she is still alive. She has nearly drowned now twice.

Updated

Insurance companies have received more than 5,000 claims for flood and storm damage over the past few days, the Insurance Council of Australia says.

Large parts of NSW have been declared a catastrophe by the ICA.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said:

It’s too early to understand the extent of the damage to property in affected areas and to estimate the insurance damage bill, however insurers have received over 5,000 claims in the past few days.

The insurance industry has made this catastrophe declaration to activate services and support for affected homeowners and businesses and reassure them that their insurer is there to help.

As many areas are currently inaccessible due to flood water, insurers are expecting further claims in coming days as emergency services allow residents to return to their properties to examine the extent of their damage and losses.

People who are returning to a flood-damaged property have been warned to make sure the electricity remains off, and not to turn it on until it has been inspected by an electrician. People are also urged to contact their insurance company as soon as possible and to take extensive photos of the damage and keep samples of damaged materials before beginning to clean up.

Updated

Volunteers worked through the night to fill sandbags at Windsor

At McQuade Park in Windsor, there’s a line stretching down the road for a sandbag filling station set up by the Rapid Relief Team, a charity set up to provide services during emergencies.

The team of volunteers down here have been working in shifts since yesterday afternoon, working, quite literally, through the night shovelling sand as people here try to prepare their homes for the deluge. They estimate that they have gone through about 150 tonnes of sand so far.

Volunteers fill and load sandbags into utes and trucks at McQuade Park, Windsor, NSW as they preparing for higher flood levels.
Volunteers fill and load sandbags into utes and trucks at McQuade Park, Windsor, NSW as they prepare for higher flood levels. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Alistair Dent is on the board of RRT and is a Windsor local. He, like everyone I’ve spoken to so far, tells me that people in this part of Sydney are used to floods coming through, but the predictions yesterday that the Hawkesbury could rise as high as 15m had everyone worried. He said:

I had a lady crying on my shoulder yesterday afternoon; I think people are quite worried.

Those predictions have come down slightly since then, but everyone who has lived here long enough is talking about the floods that came through in the early 1990s, an event no one is particularly keen to experience again.

Rachel Holland is one of the people waiting in line. She spent yesterday preparing her house in south Windsor, but since then the water has continued to rise and she’s come back for more supplies. She and her husband plan to retire to Queensland next year and she’s sweating on what any damage to the house will do to their plans to sell up.

Basically if it happens we’re fucked.

It’s almost up to the back doorstep and it’s still rising, my husband’s got some health issues and he’s not supposed to be lifting things but he spent all yesterday doing it so I’m a bit worried about him too.

What can you do? We’re just preparing as best we can.

Updated

Berejiklian said the floods are not comparable to floods people may have experienced before.

It is very difficult to say to someone who might live in a flood-prone area, this is different to what you have experienced before, but that is exactly the message. What we’re going through now is not like anything we have seen for at least 50-60 year. Parts of the mid-north coast are experiencing a one-in-100-year event.

So this is different to what we have experienced before, different to what we have experienced before. Please do not be complacent, if you have been asked to evacuate please follow instructions, because it is not the same as what you might have experienced before. You may have had this five years ago or 10 years ago and your house was OK, but this is an event which far exceeds what has occurred in the last 50 or 60 years.

Berejiklian said claims the Powerhouse Museum at Parramatta had flooded was incorrect, saying it is built above the one-in-1,000-year flood level.

Updated

Berejiklian: 'miracle' no lives lost in the floods

Berejiklian said there had been no reported loss of life from the floods, “which is a miracle given what we have been through”.

She said she was told by the NSW SES commissioner Carlene York, just before the press conference began, that some communities in the mid-north coast had been allowed to go back to their homes, but she warned that others would be asked to evacuate.

You are to be evacuated please know that it is for your own safety, and as soon as we are able to say it’s safe to go back, we will allow you to go back to ...

So I was pleased to get that one bit of good news, but that does not take away from how serious the situation is, how evolving it is, and unfortunately we not through the worst of it. That is why we need to brace ourselves, it will be a very difficult week.

Berejiklian said the priority at the moment was to save lives and save property as much as is possible, “although, unlike a bushfire it is very difficult to mitigate against, once the water has come the damage is done”.

Can I say that in relation to saving lives, I am so relieved, until this point in time no one has lost their lives which is a miracle given what we have been through, and we really want to maintain that.

Updated

Berejiklian said she was planning to take an aerial tour of the flood-affected areas this afternoon, weather permitting, to see the extent of the damage.

She also warned that people in flood-affected areas may be asked to evacuate – not just advised, but ordered – and said people should be ready to go.

She warned that the flood waters could peak even after the rain has stopped.

Sometimes, depending on where you are you could experience peak flood conditions post rain stopping and obviously it involves and we will give community updates as soon as we receive them.

We ask everybody to be alert in that respect and that is why we set up our operations centre at Homebush so we have timely information across the state. It is not just in the Nepean Hawkesbury we must watch. There are parts of the mid-north coast we are worried about including Campsie and Taree and those regions and now we have alert for the south coast and Illawarra and parts of western Sydney. It is important for us to make sure we’re not taking our eye off the ball in any part of the state and, also, to make sure that we monitor both weather conditions and also rainfall and also likely direction of where those peak weather conditions are likely to be.

Berejiklian said she had not yet asked the federal government for Australian defence force support, but had spoken to the prime minister about assistance that may be required during the clean-up.

She thanked the South Australian, Queensland and Victorian government for sending support to respond to the floods.

She said the clean-up after the rain stops and the flood water subsides may be “more challenging than the crisis and the rescue”.

So we have no illusions about how difficult the next few weeks or months will be, that is when we will need all hands on deck, including ADF support in terms of that initial cleanup and recovery stage. As I said, I have had quite a few conversations with the prime minister about that, I have had messages from other state governments in relation to their support which we are grateful for, but in this instance [while] the rain is still falling, our immediate priority is to save lives and to say property as much as possible.

Updated

NSW residents asked to brave the rain to attend vaccine bookings

Berejiklian urged people who had been given an appointment to get a Covid-19 vaccine this week to attend the clinic, unless they are in an area where it would be unsafe to do so.

There are parts of the state heavily impacted where people are stranded or have to stay at home or be ready to evacuate, but other parts of the state, please know that if you have been booked in to get a vaccine it is important for you to be vaccinated.

All of our Sydney locations are still up and running ... if you can safely access, please continue to be vaccinated.

Berejiklian said it was important for the state to “keep functioning as much as we can during these difficult times”.

About 65,000 people have received at least one shot of a vaccine in the past four weeks. Of those, 8,000 people have received their second shot of the Pfizer vaccine.

Batches of locally produced AstraZenaca Covid-19 vaccine in Australia on Monday.
Batches of locally produced AstraZenaca Covid-19 vaccine in Australia on Monday. Photograph: CSL

Updated

Berejiklian: 'I know people will feel like this is a breaking point'

Berejiklian says that up to 38 areas of NSW have now been classified as natural disaster areas, which means people living in those areas are eligible for federal emergency funding of up to $1,000 per adult and $400 per child.

She said the weather situation was “evolving”. There are severe weather alerts for the Illawara and the south coast, and major flood warnings for the Nepean, Hawkesbury, and mid-north coast.

I want to stress that the government is taking a holistic approach and although agencies are working together and this week I will be based from Homebush in the mornings. A common site for dealing with statewide issues. All our state agencies will gather in Homebush in the morning to make sure that we are working together and I am updated on every situation across the state.

I just want to say to everybody across the state who is currently living in fear and anxiety that all of us are thinking of you. Some communities battered by the bushfires are now being battered by the floods and deep drought prior to that. I don’t know any time in the state’s history where we have had these extreme weather conditions in such quick succession in the middle of a pandemic.

They are challenging times for New South Wales but we have also demonstrated our capacity to be resilient and I know for many people, they will feel like it is a breaking point. When you have been through three or four incidents that are life-changing on top of each other, it can make you feel like you are a breaking point. Please know that we are thinking of you and getting support as much as we can.

Updated

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is speaking now

NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is addressing reporters in Sydney now. She has repeated a call made by the police earlier, for anyone who knows someone who may be in an evacuation centre to take them into their home, if available.

As you appreciate, we do need to be Covid safe in addition to making sure we provide people with the basic amenities they need to get through.

Berejiklian said 3,000 people have been evacuated to date.

Nineteen orders have been issued and potentially there are more to come. We ask everybody who are in those flood areas to please be cautious and listen to the orders, please be ready if you have been asked to be on alert, be sure you are packed and ready to go in case you need to be evacuated at short notice.

Updated

Here are some more photos of the floods at Centennial Park this morning, taken by Jessica Hromas.

Flood waters make a new little lake in Centennial Park, Sydney, Australia. 21 March 2021.
Flood waters make a new little lake in Centennial Park, Sydney, Australia. 21 March 2021. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
Centennial Park lawns flooded.
Centennial Park lawns flooded. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Jessica is out in Windsor with Guardian reporter Michael McGowan. This is what they are seeing.

A commodore car is submerged in Church Street, Windsor.
A commodore car is submerged in Church Street, Windsor. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
A child paddles a canoe by Church Street, Windsor, NSW.
A child paddles a canoe by Church Street, Windsor, NSW. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

Updated

Climate Council spokesman Prof Will Steffan says that intense rainfall and floods are happening more frequently due to climate change.

Climate change is harming the health, safety, and livelihoods of Australians, racking up billions of dollars in economic losses, and damaging many of our unique ecosystems. It’s time for all levels of government and businesses to step up their climate action efforts to protect people, our environment and the economy.

We must take decisive action this decade to bring climate change under control. Australia must get to net zero emissions well before 2040, and accelerate efforts to shift away from coal and gas to a fully renewables-powered economy.

The NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to give a press conference shortly.

Bureau: Sydney basin could get 80mm rain today and again tomorrow

Three weather systems are crashing together to deliver extreme and relentless rainfall across New South Wales causing flooding, with intense rainfall likely to continue until late tomorrow.

Some areas of the northern New South Wales coast have been drenched with more than 700mm of rain since last Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the Sydney basin area would see between 40 and 80mm of rain today and again tomorrow, which was not as intense as previous days but was falling on land already saturated.

But by late Tuesday, the rain should ease across NSW as the moisture moves south, catching the east of Victoria and parts of Tasmania on Wednesday.

BoM senior meteorologist Jackson Browne said the affects of a tropical low off the Kimberley coast were now combining with a coastal trough that had been sitting off the NSW coast for the past week.

Unfortunately what we get is tropical moisture moving into NSW that will spark a reinvigoration of the system east of the dividing range.

We will see this deepen considerably today and into Tuesday.

Updated

Spiders are trying to escape the flood waters at Penrith Weir.

I wish them the best, however that is too many spiders for me. Too too many.

Updated

I’ve just been chatting to Rachael Allen, whose house in South Windsor backs on to what is usually a fairly tame creek.

Overnight though, the water has come up to her yard, submerging her mother-in-law’s Holden up to its bonnet and flooding the length of her street. There’s now a few kids paddling around the water in kayaks while the adults hang around and wait to see what happens.

Allen is planning on getting out of here soon though. She’s got four kids inside and while they’re “enjoying the waterfront views”, she doesn’t want to be here if it gets any worse.

“They were saying for a while it could be as bad as the 1962 flood, which, I’ve seen photos and if that happened we’d all be standing on the roof waiting to be rescued,” she told me.

Allen is 28 and has lived in the area her whole life. She certainly can’t remember anything like the flood waters that this part of north-west Sydney has seen over the past 24 hours or so.

While we were chatting, her neighbour Darren stuck his head out of the window next door and told us the police and State Emergency Service volunteers had been past last night. They haven’t been told to evacuate yet – and both their houses are built up off the ground – but given how fast the water rose from about 4am this morning, he’s also thinking about getting out of here soon.

Updated

At least 36 schools in NSW have been damaged by the floods, the ABC reports.

Some 151 schools are closed today and another 20 are open but with “minimal supervision”.

Western NSW towns expecting one month's rain in a single day

Jackson Browne, a senior meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology, says there will be a “renewed vigour” in the rain system which is over NSW today.

He said there was 256mm recorded at one point on the NSW mid-north coast today – that’s at the mini pump house near Wooli.

Browne said:

Unfortunately we’re getting a reinvigoration of this system. So there is an influx of tropical moisture coming down from the north-west and once that combines with the coastal trough it will lead to a renewed vigour in the system.

Browne said the focus in the next few hours would be on flooding at the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, which is undergoing major flooding near north Richmond.

The Windsor Bridge is inundated by flood waters from the Nepean River at Windsor in the north-west of Sydney on Monday morning.
The Windsor Bridge is inundated by flood waters from the Nepean River at Windsor in the north-west of Sydney on Monday morning. Photograph: Dean Lewin/AAP

There’s also heavy rainfall in western NSW, due to tropical moisture.

Looking in the order of about 40-80mm through places like Cobar and Dubbo ... it represents one month’s worth of in a single day. I suspect further flood impacts out in those areas as well as the coastal regions.

Updated

A sports oval in Centennial Park in Sydney’s east has turned into a lake.

It is, as they say, good weather for ducks.

Updated

Guardian reporter Michael McGowan is in the Hawkesbury region today.

Updated

Is it even a 2021 natural disaster if you can’t set it to Oh No by Kreepa?

It has been a terrible 18 months for residents of the NSW mid-north coast.

Many of the areas burned in the spring and summer of 2019 are now under water, AAP reports.

Here’s Hillville near Taree in November 2019:

This photo taken on November 12, 2019 shows residents defending a property from a bushfire at Hillsville near Taree.
This photo taken on November 12, 2019 shows residents defending a property from a bushfire at Hillsville near Taree. Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty Images

And here’s a video showing the approach to Taree from the air yesterday.

Absolutely devastating for that community.

Here’s more from that AAP report:

Port Macquarie restaurateur Nathan Tomkins says the past few days have been a nightmare rollercoaster.

After record flooding at the Hastings River over the weekend, Tomkins’ restaurant was inundated with neck-high water.

After surveying the damage on Sunday he says the venture he’s spent 24 years building is in ruins.

“The water just went right through and just destroyed everything. There is nothing left,” he told ABC TV on Monday.

“This is just like a nightmare, it really is. I’ve got so many friends and family members that are just hurting at the moment from all this, who have lost their homes, lost their cars, lost their businesses.”

The nightmare isn’t over yet either, with much of the mid-north coast bracing for more flooding on Monday.

“I’m feeling like I’m on a rollercoaster. I woke up this morning and I just pinch myself to go, ‘Okay, this is not real’. But it’s real,” he said.

Hundreds of homes have been damaged, including one filmed floating down the Manning River in Taree, but emergency services minister David Elliott says it is only a matter of time until lives are lost too.

Updated

'Thousands' of houses affected by flood waters, police estimate

Cribb says emergency services have not been able to get into flood-affected areas to conduct proper assessments, but he estimates that “thousands” of properties will have some flood damage.

Stock losses would also be “extensive”, he said.

We have had extensive flooding into houses ... then you have settlement points and the lower areas of Port Macquarie, Wauchope, and all of the places out to the west of the Wauchope that are on low-lying rural properties. All of those people would have come up one way or another, had water into their premises.

There will be different degrees. We talk about the CBD of Port Macquarie, well, a majority of Port Macquarie CBD has had water into it. It does not take long to go into 1,000 properties when you start thinking about those types of areas. Even people on North Shore, they have had water in their properties. To [say] hundreds, I would say, ‘No. We will have more than that.

Cribb said they would use air support to deliver water and other essential supplies to isolated communities like King Creek.

Being a rural community, and with the current rain, that is a blessing. We will seek air support if it means that we have got to get pallets of bottled water. We will seek support to get that in there. We will see if we can get engineers by air taken in to see if they can fix the reservoir, but that is our challenge today. As I say, from early this morning, that is what we have been working on: how we are going to do that. Do I have to plan now? No. But I can assure the community that is what we are working on.

He said there are about 400 people in evacuation centres in Port Macquarie who police would like to find alternative accomodation for. He urged anyone who may have a spare room, and who knows someone in that area who may have been evacuated in that area, to give them a ring or call the evacuation centre “because we really need to get those people out of there. A lot of them are elderly or have medical issues. Although we up providing all of the medical assistance we can, it is not good for them and we have to get them out of there”.

Updated

The police commander of the mid-north coast district, Superintendent Shane Cribb, has told the ABC these are the biggest floods he has seen in his career.

I have never seen rainfall like this. I have worked in a number of floods and this is the biggest one I have worked in in my career, so, yes, it is extensive and serious.

Cribb says emergency workers have pulled shifts of more than 24 hours to try and support the community but still have people stranded by floodwaters.

Today, our main aim is to formulate a number of plans where we can provide some restocking into those isolated people and those isolated communities. We have got some townships that have been isolated for a number of days now, for example we have a town with no water, so we need to come up with away to get water into that township.

The small town of King Creek is isolated, so now we are looking to get supplies into that area. Then the area of North Shore [in Port Macquarie] is isolated. They do not have any power. We are working tirelessly today to ensure we can get that support that they required today.

We have got numerous people that can’t get back into their houses. We are looking to provide that support, which means that emergency services will take risks. They will cross floodwaters, use water boats to provide bread, water and supplies to help people.

Another thing we have got is evacuation centres running in various locations. We have to get those people out of those locations. They have been there for two, three days. We have evacuation centres setup in ex- service clubs, golf clubs, and that is fantastic for providing that support, but we can’t leave people there forever, so today we’re trying to seek alternative accommodation for the people that, unfortunately, had to go into those accommodations. So, that is what we are working on today, to put some normality back into the community.

Updated

Hawkesbury remains on high alert

Patrick Conolly, the mayor of Hawkesbury Council, has told me the situation in the flood-affected areas of western Sydney, including Windsor and Richmond, is still a “moving target” this morning, as changing predictions keep the area on high alert.

The State Emergency Service has issued evacuation warnings for a number of areas in the Hawkesbury, and yesterday issued a warning for residents in Windsor to be prepared to evacuate, with the water there predicted to peak on Monday.

Conolly told the Guardian that initial predictions of the river reaching 15m had been revised down slightly which was “a bit of a relief”, but that the impact could still be “quite devastating”.

People in north Richmond, on the other side of the Hawkesbury River, were now “effectively stuck there” after the Windsor Bridge flooded, but Conolly said people in the area were “well prepared for these kind of events”.

Most of the people who have needed to evacuate so far are in low-lying areas where they’ve seen this happen before so they generally have their own plans.

Residents of a caravan park on the northern side of the river had been forced to evacuate, but Conolly said the council had been able to find them accomodation.
Still, if the centre of Windsor is forced to evacuate, he said thousands of people could be forced to an evacuation centre in Castle Hill.

It’s a moving target at the moment, and the predictions of what could happen keep changing.

Windsor Bridge goes under water.
Windsor Bridge goes under water. Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

Updated

There have also been heavy falls in south-east Queensland.

The severe weather warning for south-east Queensland has been cancelled, but there are flood warnings current.

Updated

Here’s a rain map for the last seven days in NSW. You can see how widespread the rain has been – heavy falls concentrated on the coast, but there has been rain across the state.

Some parts of the mid-north coast have received almost 900mm of rain, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

Rural Fire Service volunteer Dwayne Graham was involved in the helicopter rescue of a family at Taree in the mid-north coast yesterday.

He told described the rescue to the Today Show this morning, with the technical delivery of a seasoned emergency services worker. He said the helicopter was en route from Coffs Harbour to Taree when they received a call about three adults and two children stranded in a house in waist-deep water.

Graham:

There was a one-year-old, a four-year-old, the two parents and a grandmother, to winch all five out we needed to use a number of different techniques. For the one-year-old we used a child rescue capsule which enabled us to put the baby in the capsule and winch them out safely. For the others we used a rescue collar and rescue techniques which we trained for specifically and winched them all out.

He continued:

This is probably the largest flood event that I’ve operated on as an aviation rescue crew and it’s certainly... huge.

You can see the interview here:

Updated

This video is from a thoroughbred training facility at Wauchope on the mid-north coast of NSW. Those are some soggy ponies.

Hastings River at Wauchope reached 11 metres on Saturday. That’s the major flooding level, worse than the 1968 record of 9.5m.

Some recent images from the New South Wales floods.

Heavy flooding is seen in Windsor.
A flooded road in Windsor. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
Heavy flooding at the Windsor Leagues Club.
Flooding at the Windsor Leagues Club. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images
The flooded Nepean River.
The flooded Nepean River. Photograph: Dean Lewin/AAP
A dead fish is seen on the edge of a semi-submerged childs playground on the banks of the flooded Nepean River at Trench Reserve at Penrith.
A dead fish is seen on the edge of a semi-submerged playground on the banks of the flooded Nepean River at Trench Reserve at Penrith. Photograph: Dean Lewin/AAP

Updated

The Victorian State Emergency Services is helping to coordinate the NSW flood response.

Updated

Greenpeace says the flooding in NSW has been made worse by climate change and is calling on governments to put a levy on fossil fuel producers that would be used to help fund natural disaster preparation and recovery.

Asia Pacific campaigner Martin Zavan said:

Burning coal, oil and gas are the top causes of climate change, which makes all extreme weather events worse.

The torrential downpours and flash floods that have swept away homes, inundated properties, closed schools and left many isolated and cut off from essential services like hospitals are all exacerbated by climate change, that’s why we need to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 at the latest.

These floods are just the latest example of the many devastating ways that climate change is disrupting our daily lives right now and it’s only going to get worse unless the federal government reins in the mining and burning of coal, oil and gas.

He continued:

The brave men and women in our emergency services are under greater strain than ever as they are forced to respond to one climate disaster after another with almost no time in between events. That’s why more than one in six Australians want the coal, oil and gas companies that have contributed the most to the climate crisis to pick up the bill for the damage they have caused.

Updated

There is a bit of debate around today about the push to raise the Warragamba Dam wall in light of the dam spilling over at the weekend.

The NSW government has been arguing that the wall should be raised by 14 metres for safety reasons, to protect downstream developments. But here’s the kicker – that proposal goes hand in hand with a proposal to build more developments in that downstream flood zone.

The proposal to raise the dam wall is opposed by leading scientists and also traditional owners. It would flood 4,700 ha of the world heritage area, destroy more than 50 Aboriginal heritage sites, and potentially wipe out endangered plant species.

Updated

The State Emergency Service in NSW has received about 2,000 calls for help in the past 24-hours.

The flooding on the mid-north coast is a one in 100 year event, coming just 12 months after the unprecedented Black Summer bushfires. Is the climate emergency going to make these kind of natural disasters more common, Littleproud is asked?

He doesn’t pick up the point.

That is all about a pattern of weather events and we are seeing that and we need to make sure we are prepared and we are working with the states.

We planned for this disaster season meticulously particularly with the overlay of Covid with it, and to think we have pivoted from bushfires to floods and still not out of the cyclone season yet, we are ready to move. And the fact that we have been able to bring emergency personnel from other states in a Covid-safe way, just goes to show the world-leading service we have in this country.

We work together between states and we are continuing planning. Our planning for next season will start in another month or so as we get out of the disaster season and we will plan for whatever is to come and look for the threats that will come next season and be ready to pivot towards making thicks safe.

Yes, but what does he say to the point about these disasters happening more frequently under the climate emergency?

We have to make sure we have a nationally coordinated approach to this. This is what is keeping Australians safe and saved lives during the Black Summer. We sadly lost 34 souls during the Black Summer, but it would have been a lot worse if it hadn’t been for those men and women working on the frontline.

So, no direct reflection on climate.

And it should be noted that while Australian emergency service agencies and volunteers work very hard and do a wonderful job – the key lesson of the royal commission into Australia’s natural disaster response is that there was insufficient national coordination and planning and that the federal government needed to play a greater role.

Minister for agriculture David Littleproud.
Minister for agriculture David Littleproud. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Littleproud said the potential evacuation of 54,000 people in Sydney’s outer west was a “worst-case scenario”.

We are hoping that that doesn’t happen, but the potentially with the rainfall that is predicted and if it falls in the wrong catchment areas, then potentially this could cause considerable problems for us. And that’s why we are saying the gravity of this situation is severe and people need to understand that. They need to prepare for it, make sure they are listening to their local ABC and that if they are instructed to [evacuate], they do it, not just for themselves and their family, but for those men and women who are putting their lives on the line for them today.

This is a very serious situation and it will not abate until likely Wednesday. The bureau is saying we have today and tomorrow of heavy rainfall and if we get that in the wrong areas, we have a very serious situation.

Littleproud said there are now 34 local government areas which are able to receive the disaster recovery payment – that’s the $1,000 payment mentioned by the prime minister. Again, go to Services Australia for details.

Updated

David Littleproud: 'This is potentially a very dangerous situation'

The federal emergency management minister, David Littleproud, has also been talking to the ABC. He said the floods could get “very bad”.

This potentially is a very dangerous situation that everyone needs to understand the magnitude and gravity of what could become over the coming 24-48 hours.

...To to put into perspective some of the gravity of this, the Hawkesbury-Nepean system, if we get rainfall potentially in the wrong areas, there are over 54,000 residents that could be impacted. So this is a very large event that we have to understand a lot is going to have to happen over the coming 24-48 hours.

We are working closely with New South Wales around making sure they have any appropriate resources that may be required from a federal perspective, but I’ve got to say that both Queensland and South Australia, and Queensland in particular, despite fighting floods in south-east Queensland themselves have provided resources to New South Wales which is testimony to our emergency service system here in Australia.

The flooded Nepean River at Trench Reserve in Penrith, in Sydney’s west.
The flooded Nepean River at Trench Reserve in Penrith, in Sydney’s west. Photograph: Dean Lewin/AAP

Updated

No formal requests yet for ADF support: Morrison

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, was on 2GB radio a short time ago. He said they had not yet received any formal requests for Australian defence force support, but he expected they would be asked to help with the clean-up.

Well, we have not had [any] requests at this point, but we expect later today we will be started getting requests for the recovery operations on the other side.

And so we’re readying ourselves that. We’ve had standby helicopters and others to support with search and rescue and that’s been happening for the last few days.

Morrison said the NSW government had “very, very significant resources and capable agencies to deal with floods, and they’ve got that well in hand”.

And should they need anything further then I have no doubt they will request it and we’ll move on it very quickly.

Morrison urged people in flood-affected areas to listen to local authorities.

It’s important that people listen very carefully, because those local authorities, volunteers are doing an extraordinary job. The state governments have these have these well in hand, we stand ready to assist, and, and we’ll wait for those those requests but we are ready for that.

The federal government is providing emergency relief payments of up to $1,000 per adult and $400 for each child for residents in up to 18 local government areas which have been declared natural disaster zones.

Those payments can be accessed by calling 180 22 66 or visiting servicesaustralia.gov.au

Updated

There is a major flood warning in place for the North Richmond and Windsor, with flood levels expected to reach that of the 1990 flood.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned the Hawekesbury River may peak at 13m at Windsor tonight, the same level as the April 1988 and July 1990 flood events. The major flooding level is 9.7m.

From the B0M:

Major flooding is expected at Sackville from Monday, where river levels are expected to be similar to the July 1990 flood. Due to significant inflows from the Colo River, major flooding at Lower Portland and Wisemans Ferry similar to the July 1990 flood is expected from Monday afternoon.

Major flooding continues at North Richmond and Windsor. Major flooding is occurring on the Colo River at Upper Colo and Putty Road bridge where river levels are still rising.

Further heavy rainfall has been observed across the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley during Sunday. Further heavy rainfall is forecast during Monday and Tuesday. This rainfall may cause further rises.

Warragamba Dam commenced spilling around 3pm Saturday and is expected to continue spilling during Monday.

Updated

Peta Pinson, the mayor of the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, has also spoken to the ABC. She has been visiting evacuation centres and says a number of people, particularly older people in the community, appear to have been caught off guard by how quickly the flood waters rose.

[I have been] speaking to a lot of our seniors who, understandably, are very concerned. Really upset. It’s actually heartbreaking. And the vulnerability that they’re feeling at the moment and the uncertainty was there on their faces. There was some stories of people just not understanding how quick this was going to come in, and they were really taken by surprise. And you know, some of these residents have lived 30, 40, 50 years in the area, and they’ve seen floods before, but not to this magnitude. So it really does show the one-in-100-year flood we’re seeing in the Port Macquarie and Hastings area.

Many of those residents were hopeful their homes were not too badly damaged, she said. They haven’t seen the aerial photos, which show the extent of the damage.

A flooded area in Port Macquarie.
A flooded area in Port Macquarie. Photograph: Alex Mcnaught/Reuters

She urged people not to be complacent with the break in the rain.

This is a lull. We’re expecting rain to continue right through, I believe, until Wednesday or Thursday. We are seeing from the upper valleys, the water flowing down into, as I said before, our already swollen rivers. So what we need to do is stay vigilant, but there’s a huge clean-up for council. Our crews are out and about. They are trying to keep our community as safe as possible. We are having our roads literally degrade before our eyes ... we have shoulders collapsing and sinkholes.

So you know, it isn’t worth your while to be out just having a gawk at what’s going on. This is a serious crisis that we’re in at the moment. And I would urge everyone to stay at home.

Updated

The mayor of Penrith city council, Karen McKeown, has been speaking to ABC24 and repeated one of the main messages of the day: do not drive on flooded roadways.

McKeown said Penrith had some “very anxious hours overnight”.

Thank goodness [the river] seems to have peaked at 10 metres, and it is now receding. Unfortunately, those waters are now flowing down towards Richmond and Windsor. So it’s still some scary times ahead. I would urge residents as well, even though the river maybe receding at the moment, it’s all those drainage areas, storm rivulets, all those infrastructures around the suburbs are doing their job, and please, do not drive through any water at all. You may not know the depth. And it is very, very dangerous.

She said a few hundred people had been evacuated from the region, including inmates at the Emu Plains Prison which was evacuated overnight.

The SES was door knocking in low-lying streets in Penrith and Emu Plains overnight to issue evacuation orders. The SES also set up evacuation centres, with a significant centre at Castle Hill RSL, but McKeown said evacuees had been advised to stay with friends and family if possible.

She said she was hopeful the worst of the flooding had passed.

Look, you know, we’re a glass half-full sort of city. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this is the worst of it that we’ve seen here in Penrith. As I said, we don’t know what is still yet to come, because most of our stuff comes down through the Cox River, through our creeks and our tributaries that all feed here into the Nepean River.

And of course, the water that you can see here behind me today probably fell up in the southern highlands yesterday. We don’t know what is happening up there at the minute.

She urged people to check local road closures, and to stay at home if it’s safe to do so.

People should stay off the roads. I would implore them to do that, because we need our emergency services and our SES to be able to respond in a timely way and they can’t do that if all of the sightseers are out on the road at the moment.

Houses are threatened by flood waters in Penrith on Monday.
Houses are threatened by flood waters in Penrith on Monday. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Updated

ABC Rural Reporter Warwick Long put a call out asking people how much rain they’ve had and some of the answers are astounding.

A property at King Creek on the mid-north coast has received 664mm since Thursday. That’s more than the half average annual rainfall in just four days, and wetter than the previous record for March, which was 533.6mm in 2016.

Updated

Good morning,

There are more than 20 evacuation orders in place in New South Wales and 200 schools are closed as the state braces for further flooding today – including potentially the worst flooding event on Sydney’s outer north-west fringe since 1961.

Floodwaters are expected to rise in Windsor, Pitt Town, North Richmond, Freemans Range and Colo today, with the Hawkesbury River predicted to reach peaks of up to 15m, potentially flooding some homes and properties up to roof height, cutting off evacuation routes, and causing long power and water outages.

It comes after Sydney’s main water storage, Warragamba Dam, spilled over.

Meanwhile parts of the mid-north coast of NSW are bracing for the worst flooding since 1929. There are evacuation orders out for Macksville, Port Macquarie, the lower Macleay, Wauchope and Rawdon Island, Taree and Wingham. An evacuation order was also issued for Kempsey, where residents were told at midnight last night that floodwaters were likely to reach 6.6m, breaching the levee.

The north-west slopes of NSW are forecast to receive four times the average rainfall for March in just two days.

There are also flood warnings current for parts of the Gold Coast in Queensland after rainfalls of more than 100mm were recorded in two hours.

If you’re in a flood zone and it’s safe to do so, let us know what it looks like at your place by tweeting @callapilla or emailing calla.wahlquist@theguardian.com.

Updated

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