What happened today – Sunday 6 March
With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. Once again, stay dry and stay safe. Here were today’s major developments:
- Shane Warne’s family have accepted Victorian premier Daniel Andrews’s offer for a state funeral, with details to be confirmed in the coming days. It comes as Warne’s body is transferred from the island of Koh Samui to the mainland. Police have said Warne had complained of chest pains before heading to Thailand.
- Communities in south-east Queensland, northern NSW and parts of Western Sydney are bracing for more rain to come this evening and into Monday as the cleanup from the flooding continues. More than 70,000 people remain subject to evacuation orders in NSW. Damaging winds, giant hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding is on the cards for a large part of south-east Queensland.
- Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk launched the state’s disaster recovery appeal with a $2.1m donation from the government.
- In Covid news, there have been 13 deaths reported across the country today including five in NSW, two in Queensland and South Australia and four in Victoria.
- Prime minister Scott Morrison spoke with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskiy late last night and was thanked for the country’s support. Defence minister Peter Dutton says missiles and ammunition funded by Australia have arrived in Ukraine.
- And South Australians woke to a 3.8 magnitude earthquake at Mount Barker near Adelaide this morning. There is no tsunami threat from the quake.
Updated
Much of NSW faces another wet evening, with the Bureau of Meteorology issuing a warning for heavy rain for most of the coast, including Sydney.
Monday and Tuesday’s forecast for rainfall is for more big falls for Sydney (less inland) as another east coast low looks likely to form offshore:
Sydney's forecast for Monday and Tuesday is for more heavy rain that could lead to flash flooding. (Inland regions are forecast to get a bit less.) @BOM_au pic.twitter.com/XTajEzH0Le
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 6, 2022
But it looks like Wollongong to the south will cop more of it:
#Wollongong, meanwhile, will cop more of the brunt of the latest east coast low. @BOM_au pic.twitter.com/U2ItKmQQHR
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 6, 2022
For the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, the size of the floods will hinge on local rains and inflows from the mountains. Warragamba Dam is now spilling at the rate of 166 gigalitres a day, and inflows were more than 153GL/day as of Sunday afternoon.
According to the government, the upper range of the spill forecast is 240-400GL/day with the peak expected on Monday.
Meanwhile Warragamba dam will see a bit of a drop off in rainfall. Inflows are in the order of 150 gigalitres a day. Spill rate, depending on rainfall, could raise to a peak 400GL/day, the government says. pic.twitter.com/TBJzPr6uZb
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) March 6, 2022
By contrast, the peak spill rate last week was 315GL, and about 450GL during the March 2021 floods.
