What we learned – 3 March 2022
And with that, we are going to put this blog to bed. Thank you so much for going through all the big stories with us today.
Before we go, let’s do a re-cap:
- There were jubilant scenes at Perth airport as the Western Australia border reopened after two years of strict border rules.
- Sydney was spared the worst rain but Newcastle is still under threat as a new NSW flood warning is issued.
- Almost 500,000 people across NSW were under evacuation orders or warnings.
- The Coalition announced it was scrapping its controversial $65m spend on four car parks in Josh Frydenberg’s electorate.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, was criticised by the Australian Christian Lobby for saying Ukrainians at ‘top of pile’ for visas.
- A redress scheme was announced for Victorian stolen generation survivors.
- There were at least 47 deaths from Covid-19 across the country.
- The beloved Australian soap opera Neighbours announced it was wrapping up after 37 years on air.
We will see you tomorrow!
Updated
Roughly half a million people have been told to evacuate their homes in New South Wales as disastrous floods continue, but lower than expected rainfall has brought some reprieve for those in the path of the spilling Warragamba Dam, AAP reports.
About 130,000 households were told on Thursday afternoon the volume of water surging out of the dam won’t be the same as seen during devastating floods in 2021.
It was predicted that about 600 gigalitres of water would spill, but with less rainfall in the catchment area than expected, WaterNSW announced the forecast had been revised down to between 300 and 350GL a day.
That’s below the 440GL a day that surged out of the dam during flooding last year.
“This prediction is still subject to advice from the Bureau of Meteorology and will be ultimately determined by the intensity of the rain event and the inflows generated,” WaterNSW said on Thursday.
Most dams in Greater Sydney have spilled, including all dams in the Upper Nepean region.
While the Warragamba Dam spill has been revised down, several rivers are still above their major flood level or approaching it.
Moderate to major flooding is expected in western Sydney along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Georges rivers, and the Colo and Macdonald rivers at Menangle, North Richmond, Penrith and Windsor, with dozens of suburbs on high alert.
Updated
