And that’s where we’ll leave you for this evening.
It’s been a wild day of weather in New South Wales, as floodwaters inundated much of the city and evacuation orders were issued for many low-lying metropolitan residential areas of Sydney. The NSW SES issued 64 evacuation orders, covering 52,723 people. At the time of writing, there were also 17 evacuation warnings in place for another 18,000 people.
The city’s dams are overflowing, rivers breaking their banks, roads have been blocked, schools closed and much of the damage done over the past 16 days of rain has yet to be revealed.
The death toll from the floods has continued to rise, with another two bodies found in floodwaters in western Sydney, believed to be a missing mother and son.
Meanwhile, the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has apologised for his government’s response to the flooding crisis in the state’s north, while Peter Dutton has told Australians “to look at the positives” of help being provided to devastated communities.
Up in Queensland, also flood-stricken, authorities have announced the appointment of a “recovery coordinator” – essentially the head defence force officer – who will be overseeing the clean-up, temporary relocations and rebuilding efforts.
Elsewhere, a man aged in his 60s from northern Victoria has died from Japanese encephalitis, one of seven confirmed cases in the state and the first known death this year.
Australia has issued further sanctions against Russia, including against 16 individuals – six military figures and 10 “people of strategic interest to Russia for their role in encouraging hostility towards Ukraine,” according to the foreign minister Marise Payne.
Plus there was all today’s Covid news, and you can find the national numbers for today here.
Thanks for sticking with us. Stay dry, if you can, and stay safe. See you tomorrow.
Here’s a little video wrap of the day in floods.
