Warragamba Dam and other Sydney dams spilling
Warragamba Dam began spilling early this morning, following intense rainfall overnight.
Water NSW confirmed the dam is at full capacity and began spilling at 4.20am this morning. By 7am the dam was spilling at a rate of 150 gigalitres per day (GL/day), and increasing. Total inflow to the dam was 270 GL/day and rising.
A severe weather warning is in place for heavy rainfall across the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley, plus a flood watch for moderate flooding across the region.
Water NSW said:
The Warragamba catchment received 87mm of rain in the 48 hours to 6am Friday. The Upper Nepean catchment received 129mm rain in the same period, and the Woronora catchment 111mm.
Other Sydney dams spilling this morning are the Woronora, Nepean, Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Tallowa, and the Blue Mountains storages, except Upper Cascades.
The April spill of Warragamba earlier this year peaked at about 220GL/day.
Key events
Here are some photos of flood rescues at Woollamia near Shoalhaven in NSW, amid the heavy rainfall:
Second person charged over alleged attack on Friendlyjordies’ home
A second person has been charged over the alleged arson attack on YouTube comedian Jordan Shanks-Markovina’s home nearly two years ago.
Better known as Friendlyjordies, the YouTuber’s home was significantly damaged during a fire just after midnight on 23 November, 2022. The house was vacant at the time.
According to police, initial inquiries linked the incident to a fire at the same house on 17 November, 2022.
A 37-year-old man was charged late last year for his alleged involvement in the two incidents, and remains before the court.
Yesterday, strike force detectives arrested another 37-year-old man at Parramatta police station. He was charged with one count of destroy property in company use fire and participate criminal group contribute criminal activity.
The man was refused bail to appear before Parramatta local court today. Police will allege in court the man was driving a vehicle involved in the second alleged arson attack and is a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Evacuation order lifted for Picton CBD amid heavy rainfall but SES remain concerned
The assistant commissioner of the SES has just provided a wet weather update to the ABC. Dallas Byrnes said while the weather appears to be clearing in the Illawarra, the SES remains concerned about the trough:
It’s still raining in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley area and that water will move downstream into North Richmond and Windsor, so a close focus [will be] on that today to see what the impacts will be for [the] community.
He confirmed an evacuation order for the Picton CBD had been lifted:
It’s been heavily sandbagged [and the] water is receding there. The sooner the system moves off, the happier we’ll be. Our volunteers have done a fantastic job in the last 24 hours.
Warragamba Dam and other Sydney dams spilling
Warragamba Dam began spilling early this morning, following intense rainfall overnight.
Water NSW confirmed the dam is at full capacity and began spilling at 4.20am this morning. By 7am the dam was spilling at a rate of 150 gigalitres per day (GL/day), and increasing. Total inflow to the dam was 270 GL/day and rising.
A severe weather warning is in place for heavy rainfall across the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley, plus a flood watch for moderate flooding across the region.
Water NSW said:
The Warragamba catchment received 87mm of rain in the 48 hours to 6am Friday. The Upper Nepean catchment received 129mm rain in the same period, and the Woronora catchment 111mm.
Other Sydney dams spilling this morning are the Woronora, Nepean, Cataract, Cordeaux, Avon and Tallowa, and the Blue Mountains storages, except Upper Cascades.
The April spill of Warragamba earlier this year peaked at about 220GL/day.
Victorian police investigating suspicious fire amid ongoing ‘tobacco wars’
Victoria police are investigating a suspicious fire at a tobacco shop in Coburg early this morning.
It is understood the alleged offenders broke into the shop on Sydney Road and lit a fire just before 4.30am, police said in a statement. Images on social media show that it was the Blck & Bronze tobacco store allegedly targeted.
No one was inside at the time of the incident, and an investigation is ongoing.
The alleged incident is the latest in a string of arson attacks on tobacco stores in Victoria.
Wollondilly mayor gives update on weather conditions
The mayor of Wollondilly council in south-west Sydney, Matt Gould, said it had been a “very long night” in Picton, where there is a watch and act to prepare for evacuation amid heavy rainfall overnight.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast just earlier, he provided the following update:
The Stone Quarry Creek has risen rapidly overnight. In a bit of good news, it does seem to have peaked and in the last 10 minutes we have had the SES downgrade us to an advice level now…
The residents of the Picton CBD and businesses are sandbagged and a lot of them will be closed today, and SES is continuing to watch the situation closely.
The rain has eased off here in the last hour but we have been told it could pick up again in the next few hours.
Greens MP continues criticism of Labor over alleged lack of action on Palestine
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather is continuing the breakfast rounds and just spoke to ABC RN about the legal action Adam Bandt is considering against Mark Dreyfus over comments on pro-Palestine protests.
Host Patricia Karvelas asked if it was possible for Australia to be “concerned about violent protests” but also talk about the “very significant violence overseas?”
Chandler-Mather responded:
I suppose the murder of 35,000 Palestinians and 15,000 children should warrant more coverage in the Australian media when the Australian government is not taking any material actions to put pressure on Israel to stop it.
Labor has previously called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, the release of hostages and for Israel to allow aid to flow.
Asked if it’s appropriate for people to “blockade” an MP’s office, Chandler-Mather said “people feel like they’re not being heard.”
They look at other countries that have banned arms trade with Israel and they say, why is it that those countries can do it and Australia doesn’t?
Chandler-Mather said “meaningful action” would include sanctions on Israel, a ban on two-way arms trade, and for Australia to join South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel.
Max-Chandler Mather weighs in on Bandt’s potential legal action against attorney-general
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier about the ongoing stoush between his party and Labor, with Adam Bandt threatening legal action against the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, over comments on pro-Palestine protests.
Asked if Bandt was serious about taking legal action, Chandler-Mather said it was a “matter that we will leave between the attorney general and his decision about whether or not to apologise.”
He is asked again to comment on the case, and said:
Asking me to comment on the specifics of a case like that – outrageous comments by the attorney general, completely baseless and without fact … this is an attempt to distract from the fact that the Labor government is complicit in a genocide being carried out by Israel in Gaza.
Labor has previously called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, the release of hostages and for Israel to allow aid to flow.
Asked about the targeting of Labor MP offices by protestors, and whether politicians have a responsibility to be cautious with the language they use, Chandler-Mather said:
Of course. What is causing social unrest is the fact that the Australian government is not taking any meaningful action to stop Israel and put pressure on Israel.
Victorian Labor government would win election, poll says
Victoria’s Labor party would enter its fourth historic term if an election was held now, according to a poll.
As AAP reports, the Herald Sun reports a Redbridge poll of 1,000 Victorian voters shows the government has extended its two-party preferred lead over the coalition, 55 to 45.
While Labor has a lesser share of the primary vote than it did when it won the 2022 election, the survey shows those lost voters are not going to the Liberal-National coalition.
Redbridge directors Kos Samaras and Tony Barry said while the Coalition was winning back votes from minor parties, it was failing to attract disaffected Labor voters. Instead votes are going to the Greens, which would go back to Labor in a flow of preferences.
The next state election will be held in November 2026.
SES respond to 450 incidents overnight in NSW after wet weather
The State Emergency Service has responded to 450 incidents overnight across NSW.
Dallas Byrnes from the SES has told the Today Show that 49 of those were flood rescues – 28 being in the Illawarra.
As we flagged earlier, there is a watch and act for the low-lying areas of Picton to prepare to evacuate, plus warnings for the Wollundry and Shoalhaven rivers due to the heavy rainfall overnight.
Byrnes urged those in the Illawarra particularly to drive with caution into work this morning.
Rain can’t drive off Women’s State of Origin spectators
The east coast rain didn’t stop people from getting out and about last night. Here are some photos from the second game of the Women’s State of Origin match in Newcastle last night:
Wet weather will move to south coast later today, Bureau of Meteorology says
Senior meteorologist Angus Hines has just provided a wet weather update to ABC News Breakfast.
He said an eastern band of rain sat over the east coast overnight, drenching the Illawarra region in particular. Around Wollongong there was 200mm of rain, “most of which fell through the evening and overnight night last night.”
Port Kembla also received a bucketing, with over 200mm of rainfall.
The rivers have risen really quickly, there’s been areas of flooding across roads and road closures, areas of inundation into properties as well.
Heavy rain will continue in the Illawarra and parts of Sydney’s metropolitan, he said, plus parts of the tablelands and south coast.
The rain [in those hardest-hit areas] is expected to continue for the next few hours but by around the middle of the day, the band will move south and weaken back slightly.
For the second half of the day, the focal point will become the south coast of New South Wales, while the spots around the Illawarra and Sydney might see showers this afternoon, but the intensity and persistence of the rain should dial back.
A few more hours of wet weather in those places before some brighter and drier conditions on the way.
Good morning
Emily Wind
And happy Friday – I’m Emily Wind, reporting for blogging duty this Friday. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us!
If you see something that needs attention, or have any questions, you can always reach out via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: [email protected].
Let’s go.
Caitlin Cassidy
ANU to review ‘socially responsible’ investments despite not meeting with Palestine protestors
The vice chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU), Genevieve Bell, has confirmed that the university will meet at the end of next week to review its policies related to weapons manufacturers investments.
Asked whether the university would consider its ties that made it complicit in a “genocide in Gaza”, Bell said the university’s “socially responsible investment policy” would be reviewed next Friday by the university’s council.
Bell said she had received a number of correspondences related to investment and pro-Israel sentiment, including “one irate call” from the former member of Kooyong, Josh Frydenberg.
Asked why Bell hadn’t met with pro-Palestine students to discuss the encampment, a spokesperson said they hadn’t been able to put forward representatives to mediate their demands.
Australia National University expels two over Palestine protests
Caitlin Cassidy
Ten students at the Australian National University (ANU) have had disciplinary action lodged against them and two have been expelled since the war in Gaza broke out last October.
Speaking to education estimates on Wednesday evening, the vice chancellor of ANU, Genevieve Bell, confirmed of 10 students that had disciplinary proceedings against them, five had been rendered and two had been excluded from campus.
Academic freedom is not absolute, it’s governed by and constrained by Australian law as well as our internal policies as a university.
Pointing to students that had made the alleged Nazi salute and a Nazi symbol during a council meeting, Bell said four cases that had activated disciplinary proceedings had been referred to the AFP, including the alleged Nazi symbols and two students that refused to condemn Hamas on ABC radio.
Bell reiterated that the campus supported protest as long as it was “peaceful, respectful” and sat within the university’s code of conduct.
NSW SES issues evacuation warning for areas in south-west Sydney
The NSW SES has issued a warning for areas south-west of Sydney, due to rising hazardous flash flooding.
In a warning issues at 3am today, the SES advised locals in Picton and the nearby Stone Quarry Creek to monitor the situation and prepare to evacuate so they can safely evacuate when instructed to do so.
Rising creek waters were threatening to cut off the town.
“Wherever possible, you should prepare to stay with family or friends, or make other accommodation arrangements,” the warning said. “If you remain in the area, you may become trapped without power, water, and other essential services. It may be too dangerous for NSW SES to rescue you.”
The current weather systems are causing heavy rainfall across the area, with the possibility of flash flooding.
People in the area most at risk were advised to lift important belongings up onto tables, beds, benches, and shelves above predicted flood levels, and to collect or create sandbags by filling pillowcases or shopping bags with sand and place them around doorways and in toilets and over drains to prevent rising sewage.
They were also reminded not to swim or drive in floodwaters.
Heavy rain kicked off on Wednesday night and parts of NSW recorded more than a month’s rainfall in 12 hours. Read more:
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage at the end of another busy week in the world of news. I’m Martin Farrer and I’m going to run through a few of our top stories this morning before handing over to Emily Wind.
With little sign that the Reserve Bank is about to cut interest rates any time soon, our business correspondent has picked out four charts to explain the financial pressure being felt by Australian households. From rising insolvencies to affluent stress, and from falling spending to more inequality, the signs of strain are slowly building.
However, we might get some idea about the direction of travel for rates when the RBA’s deputy governor, Andrew Hauser, speaks at the Australian Economic Outlook conference in Sydney today. Anthony Albanese is top of the bill, though, so we’ll be bringing you details of what they say a soon as we get them.
Australia is being hit by a wave of Covid cases this winter, combined with an outbreak of other respiratory illnesses that has experts worried. Leading epidemiologists say it could be a few weeks before the country sees the peak of the current Covid outbreak, as a drop in vaccinations and a lowering of the public guard means a double-whammy effect. The impact of a “big wave” of Covid-19 infections is being made worse by a rise in influenza, respiratory syncytial viru, pertussis and pneumonia.
Peter Costello, the former federal treasurer and current chairman of Nine Entertainment, has been accused of assaulting a journalist from the Australian newspaper as he refused to answer questions about the embattled media company. Costello has dismissed the allegations, saying “there was no assault” and that the journalist “fell over an advertising placard”.
The drenching experienced by NSW since Wednesday saw nine rescues and a flash flood warning this morning for a town south-west of Sydney. More on that soon.
And at a Senate estimates hearing, the Australian National University vice chancellor has revealed ten students have been disciplined and two expelled over the pro-Palestine protests on campus. More on that, too, soon.
