Hello, Mostafa Rachwani with you this morning, and for the start of another week of rain.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was up this morning saying it was a ‘huge effort’ to recover from the floods, adding it was almost an ‘unimaginable’ situation.
He described the flooding as “nothing in living memory” and said he understood the “great frustration” residents have expressed with recovery efforts.
The Prime Minister added that the army “continues to arrive” in flood-affected areas, including up to 2,000 people who are believed to have been deployed.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings for the central north coast and parts of the south coast, central plateaus, southern plateaus and northern plateaus, with heavy rain still expected for much of eastern New South Wales heading into Tuesday.
Flood warnings are still in place for coastal rivers in New South Wales, from the North Rivers to the South Coast, including the Shoalhaven River in Nowra and Terara, to the Hunter River and Wollombi Creek in Bulga , Singleton and Maitland.
There are also minor flood warnings for the Hawkesbury River in the Nepean Valley and the Colo River.
⚠️🌧️Severe Weather Warning: For heavy rain that can lead to flash flooding today and tomorrow. Affected areas include #MidNorthCoast, #Hunter, #GreaterSydney, #Illawarra, #South sideand parts of #Tablelands. Warning details https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL @NSWSES #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/0PvUJ9zL9r
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) March 6, 2022
There are also reports of a burning car on the Sydney Harbor Bridge due to an accident, and we’ll bring you more details about that as they come.
Severe weather warnings were in place across South East Queensland, Brisbane, Beenleigh, Cleveland, North Gold Coast and Straddie last night seeing damaging winds and heavy rain.
Reports say the body of a man was found in his car after it was swept away through a flooded railroad crossing in the South Burnett area late yesterday, the 12th fatality in the state since the floods.
Warnings and the coming rain have affected clean-up efforts, with all eyes on the effects the weather will have on already devastated communities.
In politics, we expect the Prime Minister to announce a submarine base between Wollongong and Brisbane this morning.
Meanwhile, AGL Energy yesterday rejected a higher takeover bid from tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Canadian asset manager Brookfield, potentially eliminating the unsolicited bid.
There’s still a lot to do, so let’s go.
