Rescue crews on scene in flooded streets of Maribyrnong
Rescue dinghies are patrolling the flooded streets of Melbourne suburbs, helping people who have become stranded by the rising waters of the Maribyrnong river.
Take a look at some of the images from the areas of Maribyrnong that have been evacuated.
Key events
Filters BETA
Police in Tasmania have issued a warning to drone operators who are flying over flooded areas.
Assistant police commissioner Jonathan Higgins said SES aircraft are currently flying over flood areas to conduct mapping, and the rescue helicopter is also standing by. Private drone operators are getting in the way.
Higgins said:
Police have received reports of personal drones being flown in areas that have been impacted by intense rain and flooding over the past couple of days.
I urge anyone considering flying a drone in the weather affected area, to stay well clear of floodwaters – if the operator becomes stranded or in danger and requires assistance, that’s going to divert emergency responders from the flood emergency.
He added:
Aerial rescues and flood mapping require aircraft to fly at low altitude – a task made more difficult with the added risk of a drone. Essentially, if a personal drone is flying, rescue and emergency services aircraft can’t.
An evacuation warning has been issued for low-lying areas of Werribee, on Melbourne’s western fringe.
This EMERGENCY WARNING – RIVERINE FLOOD – Evacuate Immediately is being issued for Werribee River (Werribee Street & Watton Street). If you live, work or are holidaying in this area, you should Evacuate Immediately.
More details at https://t.co/RP7Qsf1njB… pic.twitter.com/n4zeBT1xhX
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) October 14, 2022
And an updated evacuation warning has been issued for Benalla in northeast Victoria.
This is what Merri Creek in Melbourne looks like right now.
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese expected to address reporters soon in Sydney
We’re also still standing by for a press conference from PM Anthony Albanese in Sydney. He’s touring a factory that manufactures products from previous metals – including the Melbourne Cup trophy from gold bullion.
This is a manufacturing visit with industry minister Ed Husic, and Albanese has been giving a speech to the workers. The facility is in his own home electorate of Marrickville, and he’s been waxing lyrical about the nearby craft breweries and the Leichhardt oval footy ground on the other side of the suburb.
Albanese has been telling the workers about his government’s support for local manufacturing, a major policy push they took to the May election. We’re expecting the PM will be asked about a story just published in the Nine newspapers, which says the cabinet will discuss boosting paid parental leave from 18 weeks to 26.
We’ll have more for you when the press conference finally begins.
We are expecting to hear any minute now from the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews who will hold a press conference with Victorian emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp and minister Jaclyn Symes.
Flood risk in Tasmania will remain over the weekend: emergency services
Emergency services in Tasmania are giving an update on the flood situation.
The heaviest rain was seen at Great Lake in the central highlands, which recorded 398mm in just 24 hours. That’s more than the annual rainfall of large parts of Australia, in one day.
Lake McKenzie received 320mm in 48 hours, as did Fisher River in 312mm. A number of areas around the Western Tiers and the Northeast Highlands recorded more than 200mm. These are areas with more than 100 years of rain records, and a lot of those records were broken, the Bureau of meteorology said.
Waves of up to 7 metres were recorded on the east coast before the Maria Island buoy went offline.
Tasmanian SES acting director Leon Smith said water would continue to flow from those highland areas into river catchments and residential areas.
It’s not a time to become complacent within Tasmania … The calls to action currently in place regarding emergency warnings and evacuating, if still in place on TasALERT, they still relevant, do not attempt to disregard them.
Smith said those warnings would be scaled back when the situation became more safe.
The Tasmanian Fire Service chief, Dermot Barry, said there was “a long way to go” before the flood risk had passed.
He said:
We remain at heightened levels of alert but what we have seen now is the benefits of the whole of the state approach to how we manage emergencies.
Tony Wilmot from TasWater also gave an update on the situation at Lake Isandula, which filled rapidly yesterday afternoon and prompted an emergency flood warning for nearby towns.
The dam had a flow of around 70,000 litres per second which is equivalent of an Olympic sized pool every 30 seconds. The dam certainly got to end overtopping, a risk of overtopping and that’s what we contacted the SES to assist with relocating some of the residents below the dam.
Josh Butler
Reconciliation advocate Shelley Reys to chair Council for the Order of Australia
Former independent MP Cathy McGowan and the head of the influential nurses union are among new names added to the Council for the Order of Australia.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is about to front a press conference in Sydney. Just ahead of that media appearance, his office announced that reconciliation advocate, Shelley Reys AO, had been appointed Chair of the Council. Albanese said the Djirribul woman was the first woman and First Nations woman to be appointed chair of the Council.
This is the body that makes recommendations to the governor general for Order of Australia awards.
New community representatives on the council include Annie Butler, the federal secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Foundation; Cathy McGowan AO, former MP for Indi; and Professor Samina Yasmeen AM, an academic at the University of Western Australia and director and founder of the University’s Centre for Muslim States and Societies.
Albanese said in a statement:
Australia is a proudly diverse country and the appointments of Ms Reys, Ms Butler, Ms McGowan and Professor Yasmeen means the Council for the Order of Australia is more reflective of our diversity, with all four of the women appointed having close links to the community.
I would like to thank the outgoing members for their significant contribution to the Australian community.
Chalmers says the budget will ‘put a premium on what’s affordable and sustainable’
Amy Remeikis
Jim Chalmers may be in Washington but he’s still meeting his Australian media commitments – including breakfast television.
Asked on the Nine network if he was upset Anthony Albanese shut down the stage-three tax cuts talk, Chalmers said “not at all”.
The point that I was making last week or the week before is the same point I’m making now, which is we need to put a premium on what’s affordable and sustainable, and what’s responsible. That will be the case in the budget we hand down. We don’t intend to change those stage-three tax cuts in the budget in a couple of Tuesdays time, but there will be more broadly a premium on doing the right thing. The absolute best buffer that we can build against all of this global economic uncertainty is a responsible budget, that’s why the one I hand down, it won’t be fancy, won’t be flashy, but it will be responsible, it will be solid and it will be the right budget for the times.
But if anything, his trip to Washington to hear more about how the US economy is going has left him feeling even more pessimistic about the global economy. But he says Australia will get through it.
My responsibility to them is to be upfront with them about what’s going on in the economy around the world, in particular, but what that means for us at home. I think there’s no use beating around the bush. I’d rather level with people about the challenges that we’re going through, but I also say to people we will get through this. The global economy is treading a narrower and more perilous path. That does have implications for us and we can’t pretend that’s not the case.
What we do know is we’ve got a lot going for us. I am personally optimistic about the future of our economy and the future of our people and the future of our country, but first we need to navigate what will be some pretty tricky terrain in the meantime. I’ve laid out what that looks like and in the budget, what you’ll see is the right and responsible response to what’s going on in our economy and the economies around the world.
Not all those who require rescue from flood waters in Maribyrnong are gracious in accepting that assistance.
More Melbourne suburbs along Maribyrnong river report flooding
The flooding in Melbourne is not confined to the suburb of Maribyrnong – residents in suburbs along the Maribyrnong river have reported inundation.
Kensington is south-west of Maribyrnong, closer to the bay. State Greens MP Ellen Sandell shared these images of flooded streets a short time ago.
Sandell and Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt are scheduled to give a press conference on the Melbourne floods at midday.
Federal government won’t help NSW with funding to raise Warragamba dam wall
To a different water story: the federal government has said it will not help New South Wales in funding a $1.6m proposal by the state government to raise the dam wall by 14 metres.
The NSW water minister, Kevin Anderson, told Sydney’s 2GB radio that it was a “big job”.
“It’s a big job. It’s a hell of a job,” he told 2GB.
That’s the reason why this has been made critical state infrastructure – to ensure the federal government gets the clear message this is critical for protecting lives, protecting properties.
Anderson said the funding issues were a matter for prime minister Anthony Albanese and premier Dominic Perrottet to work out.
This is something that has to be done. Infrastructure NSW has clearly stated that this needs to be done.
The modelling says the only way is up.
Insurance Australia Group withdrew its support for the wall raising in 2020 due to probable loss of cultural sites.
River levels at Rochester Victoria expected to rise one metre today
The town of Rochester in northern Victoria has been under evacuation orders for two days with major flooding – worse than the 2011 floods – expected along the Campaspe river.
River levels at Rochester reached 114.5m AHD at 7am and was still rising – that’s not a typo, it’s what the Bureau of Meteorology has listed. It’s expected to rise a further metre throughout the day, above the levels seen in the 2011 floods.
Medibank says ‘no evidence’ of customer data accessed after cyber incident
The Medibank Group says it has restored access to systems that were down following a “cyber incident” on Thursday, and has found “no evidence that customer data has been accessed”.
In a statement, they said a forensic investigation into the incident was continuing.
CEO David Koczkar said:
We apologise for the disruption this incident caused some of our customers yesterday, but we have made good progress with our systems overnight.
Pleasingly, this means that our ahm and international student customers who have been impacted are now able to resume their normal activities. Importantly, as we’ve continued to investigate all aspects of the incident, we have still found no evidence that customer data has been accessed.
As we continue to take decisive action to safeguard our networks and systems, we will take any steps necessary to protect the data of our customers, people and other stakeholders. We will keep everyone updated as we learn more in the coming days.
As a health company providing health insurance and health services, we hold a range of necessary personal and private customer data. The protection of our customers and their data security is our highest priority.
We have sent emails and text messages to Medibank and ahm customers keeping them informed about the incident.
Koczkar said the organisation was in frequent contact with regulators and the Australian Cyber Security Centre, and would share technical information about the incident with other insurance companies so they can bolster their own defences.
Rescue crews on scene in flooded streets of Maribyrnong
Rescue dinghies are patrolling the flooded streets of Melbourne suburbs, helping people who have become stranded by the rising waters of the Maribyrnong river.
Take a look at some of the images from the areas of Maribyrnong that have been evacuated.
Lachlan river in NSW expected to peak at 10.6 metres
Let’s go over the border to New South Wales now, where water is rushing through the town of Forbes on the Lachlan river.
Forbes recorded just 22.6mm overnight, but rain further up the already sodden catchment has caused the river to burst its banks.
The Lachlan river at Forbes Iron Bridge is expected to peak at 10.6 metres today, at the major flood level.
This is what it looks like from the air.
Victorian opposition calls for floods to be declared a natural disaster
Victorian opposition has called for the floods in the state to be declared a natural disaster, which will allow people to access federal national disaster payments.
In a statement, opposition leader Matthew Guy and deputy leader Peter Walsh said:
The scenes of flooding in our state, reaching virtually into the middle of Melbourne, are devastating.
It is clear that affected communities, families and small businesses are going to need immediate emergency relief, as well as longer-term support to recover.
To that end, we are today calling on the Victorian Government to immediately engage with the Australian Government with a view to declaring a natural disaster in affected local government areas.
This declaration will allow both the Victorian and Australian Governments to share the cost of financial support including immediate cash payments for short-term emergency accommodation, as well as low-interest loans in the longer term to help families and small businesses recover.
We are making this call in a bipartisan, non-political way and look forward to the Victorian and Australian Governments responding positively and quickly.
More than 300 homes in western Victoria have lost power, Powercor says
Powercor crews are working to restore power to 322 homes and businesses.
A generator will be brought in to provide power to Woodend on Friday afternoon, as falling trees have dropped powerlines.
Castlemaine substation was flooded on Thursday night. Power was restored to 9,800 homes just after 11pm last night, when water levels dropped.
Discussion about this post