What we learned today, Saturday 15 October
We will close this blog now. Thanks for your comments, company and correspondence this afternoon. A summary to finish:
A man has died in Rochester during floods in the northern Victorian town. Much of Victoria remains on alert for rising flood waters, as parts of Melbourne begin the clean-up after the Maribyrnong River burst its banks on Friday.
There have been more than 350 flood rescues across Victoria: more than 200 to inundated homes; 150 people who were driving through flood waters; and 10 capsized boats.
There is flooding, too, in New South Wales, in cities such as Forbes, and in Tasmania, where the premier has warned the state is “not out of the woods yet” with rivers still rising.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has told the NSW state Labor conference the federal government will expand paid parental leave to 26 weeks.
Updated
Tasmania 'not out of the woods' as homeowners start to assess flood damage
Residents in parts of flood-hit Tasmania are “not out of the woods”, authorities warn, as those allowed to return start assessing the damage.
Several watch-and-act alerts are in place across Tasmania after widespread record-breaking rain across the state’s top half spanning days.
Areas on alert include near the Meander River, North Esk River, South Esk River and Macquarie River.
The North Esk and South Esk rivers were still yet to peak on Saturday afternoon, and authorities would monitor them closely over the next 36 hours, the acting premier, Michael Ferguson, said.
Flood waters would continue to move downstream over the weekend in the Tamar river system, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
The State Emergency Service acting director, Leon Smith, said rainfall in some areas outnumbered falls in mid-2016, when three people were killed.
“In the north-west, we’ve already seen the peak. All of the accumulated rainfall at altitude has now made its way through the landscape into the riverine systems (and it) is now dissipating,” Smith told reporters on Saturday morning.
“In the northern region, we haven’t peaked.
“Due to the complexity of the catchments, we will see peaks and ebbs during the next 24 hours.”
Smith urged people in the north-west to remain vigilant and said residents had to be methodical in their return.
Reports that people had circumvented roadblocks were “extremely concerning”, he said.
While roads may appear to be free of water, they had to be assessed for damage, the Tasmania police assistant commissioner, Jonathan Higgins, said.
“We can’t have a police officer at every single road closure ... but there is a very visible police presence in the north and north-west of the state where there are roads closed,” he said.
Police had to rescue some people who were taking risks with the floods, the Tasmania police northern district commander, Stuart Wilkinson, said.
The acting premier warned that while the wind and rain had eased, Tasmanians could not yet get back to normal life.
“We’re not out of the woods yet at all – our waters are in fact still rising in a number of catchments and river systems,” Ferguson told reporters on Saturday afternoon.
“This is counterintuitive. With the rain effectively having abated, in fact the water is surging ... through the river systems, and there are two river systems that are still seeing waters predicted yet to peak.
“That means that there are yet more properties that can be subject to inundation (and) could be still subject to an evacuation order.”
Authorities were monitoring the North Esk and South Esk rivers “like a hawk”, Ferguson said.
Up to 500 homes were within flood zones, but authorities expected the number inundated to be far fewer, he said.
It remains unclear when the port of Devonport will reopen after it was closed to commercial operations on midday Thursday ahead of flooding in the Mersey River.
The closure forced the Spirit of Tasmania ferry operator to cancel four Bass Strait sailings.
Updated
