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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Calla Wahlquist, Helen Davidson and Michael Safi

Body found in sea off Bondi, but not that of missing man – rolling report

Devonport cattle rescue
Volunteers in Devonport help rescue cows that were washed downstream when the Mersey river flooded. Tasmania has suffered large livestock losses as well as human casualties in the east coast storm. Photograph: Heath Holden/Getty Images

Summary

Here is where things stand on Tuesday evening as floodwaters continue to threaten parts of north-west Tasmania and another body is found in NSW:

  • Major flood warnings remain in place in parts of north-western Tasmania on Monday evening, where authorities fear the overflowing South Esk river could threaten homes and businesses in Invermay and Longford. Precautionary evacuations are underway in both areas.
  • Police divers searching for a man who jumped from rocks and went missing from Bondi on Monday found the body of a woman in her 20s on Tuesday afternoon, about 100m out from the shore at nearby Dover Heights. It is unclear whether the woman died as a result of the inclement weather conditions and flooding that claimed three lives in NSW and the ACT on Monday.
  • In Tasmania, Mary Kathleen Allford was found dead in her flooded Latrobe home on Tuesday. The 75-year-old was unable to reach the rescuers who plucked her husband off their roof the previous day.
  • Two others Tasmanians are still missing in flood waters including an 81-year-old farmer from Ouse, in the central highlands, who reportedly waded into floodwaters to check his sheep and was swept away. Another man went missing at Evandale, about 20km south of Launceston, after driving into flood water.
  • Authorities believe the South Esk river could peak on Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning.
  • The Insurance Council of Australia said around 14,500 claims totalling $56m had already been lodged from across the country and would take several weeks to assess.
  • Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, and opposition leader Bill Shorten both suspended their election campaigns on Tuesday to tour flood-affected areas.
  • The federal and state governments have announced a disaster relief package including grants to low-income households, small business loans to replenish stock and local council grants for road and bridge work.

We’re closing up our live coverage of the aftermath of days of intense storms along Australia’s east coast, the death toll from which rose as high as five today. We’ll have a news wrap and summary up shortly.

Here’s the police statement relating to the woman found in the water near Dover Heights on Tuesday afternoon:

Police have located a body in the water at Dover Heights today.

About 2.15pm (Tuesday 7 June 2016), emergency services were called to Hunter Street, following reports a body was seen floating in the water.

Just before 3pm, water police located the body of a female, believed to be aged in her 20s, floating in the water, about 100m from the shore at Dover Heights.

At this stage the woman has not been formally identified.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Inquiries continue.

Body found in Dover Heights is woman's

Police are saying the body found in Dover Heights is a woman’s, and not that of the young man swept away in Bondi on Monday.

The body was found about 100m from the shore and a report is being prepared for the coroner. It’s unclear at this stage whether the woman’s death is linked to the past few day’s flooding.

Updated

Body found in search for man missing from Bondi

Tragic news out of Sydney: a body has been found in the search for a man in his 20s who went missing after jumping from rocks in Bondi around 24h ago.

The body was found in Dover Heights, about 1km north of Bondi. If it’s confirmed to be the man swept out on Monday it will bring the death toll from the storms of the last few days to five. More to come on this.

Updated

Residents of Invermay, a suburb of Launceston bordered by the Tamar River and the North Esk, have been ordered to evacuate as a precautionary measure, as floodwaters in the area creep higher.

Traffic in the suburb is bumper-to-bumper as people attempt to leave, but ABC Northern Tasmania is reporting that the Tamar St and Charles St bridges in and out of the area are still open.

Charlie, a publican at the Inveresk Inn, says Invermay is “a bit of a ghost town at the moment” though there are still folks “having a couple of beers in the bar, laughing in the face of danger”.

The state premier, Will Hodgman, said earlier that flood evacuation in Invermay could affect 3,650 homes and 795 businesses.

There are more than 2,000 people in north-western Tasmania currently without power and another 1,400 across the state in the same situation.

Updated

A handy list from the City of Launceston for anyone in north-western Tasmania worried about flooding in the region.

I’ll hand over to my colleague, Michael Safi, in a moment. But first, Guardian Australia’s photographer at large, Mike Bowers, is travelling with the prime minister. He took this photo at Picton today showing just how far the water rose.

Updated

Tasmanian authorities are watching the South Esk river closely, predicted to peak this afternoon. Some suburbs nearby have already been advised to evacuate.

The Mittagong RSL earlier today paid tribute to one of the men who died in NSW. Robert Pollard, 65, died in floodwaters over the weekend.

Musician Johnny Spitz said he was devastated at the news.

Seventy-year-old Ahmed Elomar was also named as a victim of the storm after he died when his car was trapped in flood waters in Leppington. His body was found a day after he was reported missing.

Updated

The 37 NSW local government areas now subject to disaster relief are the following:

Bega, Blacktown, Byron, Camden, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Central Coast, City of Sydney, Coffs Harbour, Eurobodalla, Fairfield, Hornsby, Inner West, Kiama, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Lismore, Liverpool, Maitland, Northern Beaches, Parramatta, Penrith, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Randwick, Ryde, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Sutherland, The Hills, Tweed, Waverley, Willoughby, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Wollongong, Woollahra

Tasmanian police have again urged people to stay away from flood water, telling local media there had already been 100 rescued – 20 by helicopter.

The Tasmanian premier, Will Hodgman, has said there will be “an extraordinary cost” after the disaster.

Updated

Natural disaster arrangements will be in place, and affected communities will get all the support they need, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, says.

Turnbull and the NSW premier, Mike Baird, visited Picton, south-west of Sydney, on Tuesday where they inspected damage and recovery efforts, AAP reports.

Turnbull said he had spoken with opposition Leader Bill Shorten and agreed to natural disaster arrangements which would have no total funding cap, but limits on some of the grants and loans available to households and businesses.

Thirty-seven local government areas have been affected in NSW alone.

“The forces of nature are very powerful, but they are not as powerful as the spirit of this community,” Turnbull said.

The federal-state support includes disaster grants to low-income households, small business loans to restock and local council grants for road and bridge work.

Turnbull said he and Shorten were “absolutely united” in thanking and supporting the affected communities.

Updated

Up to 600 sheep have perished at Ouse, north-west of Hobart. It’s the same region where an 81-year-old man is believed to have been swept away while trying to rescue his sheep.

Bernard Brain said he hadn’t seen a flood like this since the 1960s. The farmer has lost about three-quarters of his Merino lambs.

“It all happened between 4.30 and 6 this morning, so we just weren’t even aware of it,” he told the ABC.

“Within an hour-and-a-half the river rose from 0.6 of a metre to four metres. Pumps and thing we couldn’t even think about doing.”

Amid the tragedy, some animals have been rescued elsewhere, including this calf in Latrobe.

Updated

A short time ago Bill Shorten sent a message to the insurance companies of Australia, reminding them to treat customers fairly in the aftermath of the floods and storms.

The Insurance Council of Australia has said by 9am today more than 14,500 claims had come in from across Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania. The bill has passed $56m and is set to rise.

“While the storm front has moved past Queensland and NSW, heavy rains are still causing damage and flooding in more southern parts of Australia, especially in Tasmania,” the acting ICA chief executive, Karl Sullivan, told AAP.

Updated

In Collaroy a major sandbagging operation is under way to save the beachside homes in danger of washing away after huge seas and king tides eroded the land away from under them.

AAP reports residents have not been allowed to return to the seven houses and one unit block evacuated on Sunday night, as structural engineers inspect the buildings.

“It’s virtually impossible ... to get in there and carry out any meaningful work,” coastal engineer consultant Angus Gordon told reporters at the scene on Tuesday.

Another “abnormally high tide” is predicted for tonight, and emergency crews are just trying to save the homes from further damage rather than attempting any repairs yet.

Updated

In Tasmania: The SES has warned residents of the Launceston suburb of Invermay to evacuate now as a precaution, as the flood levels of the South Esk river rise.

People in Longford should assess their individual flood evacuation plans. “If you wish to evacuate as a precaution you should do so now,” said the SES.

“He just rode a tsunami”, is the kind of commentary you’ll hear if you duck over to the Cape Fear surfing competition live stream right now.

The invitation-only event at Kurnell was called off for a few hours yesterday due to the surf being too dangerous even for a competition named “Cape Fear”, but is back on today (although closed to spectators).

The annual tournament is taking full advantage of the enormous swell kicked up by the past few devastating days of storms.

Australian surfer Justen Allport rides a wave during the Cape Fear surfing tournament in heavy seas off Sydney’s Cape Solander in Australia, Monday June 6, 2016.
Australian surfer Justen Allport rides a wave during the Cape Fear surfing tournament in heavy seas off Sydney’s Cape Solander on Monday. Photograph: Jason Reed/Reuters

Updated

Bill Shorten has spoken about the eastern coast floods at a doorstop in Adelaide before he travels to Sydney to survey storm damage.

“I think it is something special about our country, that even in the midst of an election, [Malcolm] Turnbull and I understand that there are things more important when crisis hits in the day to day political rancour.

“This is a moment where the nation supports people in trouble. It is fair to say that in the worst of times, we see the best of Australia. I look forward to seeing and working with the volunteers and thanking them on behalf of many Australians.”

Shorten said he had contacted the prime minister and offered to visit storm and flood-affected regions with him but “the issue is not Mr Turnbull or I, it is the people experiencing loss, and damage”.

He then read the riot act to insurance companies to promptly pay up on claims:

“I will make this point, and I have no reason to be concerned about it, but ... I want to send a message out to the insurance companies of Australia, I am sure you will do this, but make sure that you treat your customers fairly.

“Make sure you deal with their claims in a speedy fashion. For people who have suffered significant damage, the last thing they need is to be damaged again by a long argument with an insurance company.”

Four dead, three missing

Authorities in Tasmania are continuing to search for two men missing in flood waters since yesterday.

One of the men is an 81-year-old farmer from Ouse, in the central highlands. His wife reportedly saw him wade into flood waters to check his sheep and then be swept away.

At Evandale, about 20km south of Launceston, a man is missing after driving into flood water. A woman who was travelling with him was found clinging to debris and rescued via helicopter early this morning.

Sadly, police have confirmed the body of a 75-year-old woman was found in her flooded home in Latrobe today. Mary Kathleen Allford was reportedly incapacitated and unable to reach rescuers, who plucked her husband off the roof yesterday.

Her death brings the death toll to four, after three people were confirmed dead after their cars became caught in flood water in NSW and the ACT yesterday.

Also in NSW, emergency services are still searching for a man in his 20s who was swept off the rocks at Bondi beach. He has been missing for almost 24 hours.

I’m going to hand over to my colleague Helen Davidson now. Stay safe, and remember: don’t drive into flood water.

Updated

A correction on that promised emergency assistance in Tasmania.

The premier, Will Hodgman, has offered payments of up to $750 per family in flood-affected areas. That’s $200 per adult and $100 per child, capped at $750.

Earlier, I accidentally increased that assistance to $750m per family. Apologies for any confusion or undue excitement caused, and thanks to George for picking it up.

Updated

A big dry followed by a big wet

The irony of the floods in Tasmania is that they have, for some months now, been crying out for water. Hydro Tasmania’s water storages dipped so low they had to import diesel generators to keep the lights on; heavy industry shut down because the state-owned renewable energy generator couldn’t supply them with power.

Poor rainfall saw the cool-climate rainforests and bogs of the west coast dry up and in January they burned, causing the worst crisis in the Tasmanian wilderness world heritage area in decades.

Both these events – a big dry followed by a big fire, were seen in 1968. They were followed by another disaster: a big flood on Tasmania’s east coast.

In Tasmania, natural disasters come in threes.

Updated

Such a pretty river, the Tamar.

It would be nice to pretend that this delightful scum only occurs after significant flood, but it really doesn’t take much. Still, the bigger the flood, the more river foam you find piled up in stiff heaps in Seaport.

Back to Tasmania now, where the flood gates have been closed. Literally.

The South Esk River is expected to peak in Launceston tomorrow. As explained earlier, if the North Esk River has not subsided by then, that will be very bad. That’s what happened in the 1929 flood, considered the worst in the city’s history. Two thousand homes were damaged, between 14 and 22 people died (records are a bit hazy).

This is how the Launceston mayor, Albert Van Zetten, explained it on ABC 24 this morning:

Although the North Esk does rise very quickly, it’s a shorter river and with all the rain in the area as well, it rises very quickly and it has nowhere to go well.

The South Esk takes a lot longer. Normally 2 to 3 days out, but within a day and a half or so, we’ll know what’s happening there.

Van Zetten said this flood was worse than the 1929 flood, in terms of sheer volume of water, but they didn’t have levees in 1929. At this stage, he said, the levees were “doing their job” and protecting large parts of city.

Newstead, a Launceston suburb that flooded yesterday, runs along the North Esk.

But it’s the South Esk that has flooded Longford, Perth, and Evandale, where one person is still missing.

The damage to properties in Collaroy and Coogee is pretty spectacular.

Warringah Council employees and NSW Police inspect damaged beachfront homes along Pittwater Road at Collaroy on the northern beaches of Sydney. At least five homes have sustained major structual damage.
Warringah Council employees and NSW Police inspect damaged beachfront homes along Pittwater Road at Collaroy on the northern beaches of Sydney. At least five homes have sustained major structual damage. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
Damaged beach front homes along Pittwater Road sustained further damage on Monday night following the king tide and large waves at Collaroy.
Damaged beach front homes along Pittwater Road sustained further damage on Monday night following the king tide and large waves at Collaroy. Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA
Damage inside the Coogee Surf Club in Sydney
Damage inside the Coogee Surf Club in Sydney Photograph: Karen Sweeney/AAP

Gross.

To NSW now, where Malcolm Turnbull has arrived in Picton. The Sydney suburb is cleaning up flood damage today. According to this post by Tim Senior, every shop in the main street is damaged.

The damage in NSW has occurred on two fronts: flooding, from that massive dump of rain on Sunday, and damage caused by storm surges on the coast.

Large waves destroyed the coastline at Narrabeen-Collaroy Beach and Coogee in Sydney’s northern suburbs. Backyards and balconies have washed away, sea foam has been washed ashore.

And it’s not over - another king tide has been forecast for tonight. Not quite as bad as the tide on Sunday night, which saw 8m waves crash into the coast, but still “abnormally high,” according to BOM spokeswoman Helen Kirkup.

The full cost of the damage is not known, but AAP reports that the cost of some 11,150 insurance claims submitted so far is $38m.

More from AAP:

Northern beaches residents spent Monday morning walking up and down the debris-littered beach taking photos and surveying the damage. One said it was “as if a tsunami had hit”.

NSW Premier Mike Baird said his government was doing everything it could to assess the damage.

Applications for emergency funding will be fast-tracked by the NSW government after storms left three people dead in NSW and the ACT and hundreds with property damage.

He said interest-free loans and grants for individuals, small business and community groups of up to $130,000 would be made available.

Woman confirmed dead in Tasmania

Sad news coming in. Tasmania Police have confirmed that the body of a woman missing from a home in Latrobe has been found.

Mary Kathleen Allford, 75, disappeared from her Shale Road home yesterday. The emergency helicopter was able to rescue her husband, who was also trapped at the house.

Her body was located by emergency service workers this morning.

The Tasmanian government has announced an emergency aid package for people affected by the floods.

Up to $750m per family - that’s $200m per adult and $100 per child, capped at $750 - will be made available to flood victims to purchase food, clothing, accommodation and personal items.

There’s also talk of some support for farmers who have lost stock. The stock losses are reported to be significant - one farmer, in the state’s northwest, reportedly his entire 300-head heard of dairy cattle, of which 100 have been found.

The premier, Will Hodgman, said he had spoken to prime minister Malcolm Turnbull who offered his full support. Interestingly, Turnbull was scheduled to visit Tasmania today but instead went to Sydney to tour areas affected by floods and storm damage.

Here’s Hodgman’s full statement, via The Examiner’s chief political correspondent Georgie Burgess.

Here’s some footage of the South Esk River entering Launceston through Cataract Gorge.

Keep in mind it hasn’t even peaked yet.

The flooding is quite widespread in Tasmania, as this map shows.

Launceston is fairly used to getting washed out, although this event is particularly bad.

The culprits are the North and South Esk Rivers, which flow into the Tamar River at Launceston.

The South Esk River flows from Mathinna through the towns of Perth and Evandale. It’s much bigger than the North Esk, which flows from the slopes of Ben Nevis.

The North Esk has peaked at Launceston but the bulk of the South Esk is still rising and is expected to deliver a huge volume of floodwater to Launceston later today and tomorrow. That is, as you might imagine, very bad news.

Three people are missing in flood waters at Latrobe, Evandale, and Ouse in Tasmania.
Three people are missing in flood waters at Latrobe, Evandale, and Ouse in Tasmania.

The flood at Latrobe is caused by the Mersey River. The catchment received 280mm of rain in the 24-hours between 9am Sunday and 9am Monday.

Thanks to Mike Ticher for producing this map.

More than 100 people have been rescued by helicopter in Tasmania since the flooding began, most of them in the northwest town of Latrobe, where about 100 homes have been inundated.

One of those rescued is the husband of one of the missing women. The ABC reports that the woman, in her 70s, disappeared while her husband was being airlifted off the roof.

The final missing person in Tasmania is an 81-year-old farmer who disappeared from Cluny’s Road at Ouse, in the central highlands. He was reportedly trying to move his sheep to higher ground.

Updated

The State Emergency Services (SES) gave an update on the search for three missing Tasmanians earlier this morning.

Acting director of SES Tasmania, Nick Wilson, explained that the rescue helicopter spotted a woman clinging to debris in floodwater at Evandale, about 20km south of Launceston, on this morning.

We have had a successful rescue of a female occupant of the vehicle just prior to daybreak and we are continuing the search for the male occupant of the vehicle.

Wilson said the pair had driven their car into flood waters. It’s not clear how she managed to get out of her car.

She was I believe holding onto some debris and it was quite a risky situation so it is a good news story but we do have some concerns for her male travelling companion and we have grave concerns for two elderly people missing in other parts of Tasmania.

The three confirmed fatalities from NSW and ACT were also swept away in cars. Authorities are reminding people to not drive through floodwater, even if you think it’s not deep.

Information is still coming in about people killed or missing in the floods, but here’s what we know so far.

Three dead

  • A 65-year-old man, found in a car in Mittagong Creek near Bowral.
  • A 70-year-old man, found in a ute at Leppington in Sydney’s southwest.
  • A 37-year-old man, who was trapped in his car near the Cotter Dam, outside Canberra.

Four missing

  • A man, believed to be in his 20s, who was swept off rocks at Bondi Beach, Sydney, yesterday afternoon.
  • A man whose car was swept away near Evandale, south of Launceston. A woman, who was travelling with him, was found this morning and airlifted to safety.
  • An 81-year-old man, who disappeared from his house in Ouse in Tasmania’s central highlands.
  • A woman in her 70s in Latrobe, north west Tasmania, who has not been seen since her house was flooded.

Search continues for four people missing in storm, floodwaters

Several Tasmanian towns are under water and coastal properties in Sydney are crumbling into the sea after an severe storm dumped more than 200mm of rain in some parts of eastern Australia.

Three people are confirmed dead in floods in NSW and the ACT and three more are still missing in flooded areas of Tasmania. A fourth man has been reported missing near Bondi, where a king tide has exaggerated damage done by the storm on Sunday.

Both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have suspended their election campaigns today to tour affected areas.

Join us as we track the damage and recovery efforts.

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