Parts of hard-hit Lismore are expected to be submerged under 16 metres of flood water.
Hundreds of people across the region were stranded for hours on rooftops amid the crisis as state and federal emergency services struggled to access impacted areas.
Premier Dominic Perrottet described the flooding and its impacts as “unprecedented” and “distressing”.
There were 17 evacuation orders in place across the state’s north on Monday while 21 areas were under evacuation warnings, covering around 62,000 people, the premier said.
Rescuers in a flotilla of dinghies and inflatables plucked stranded Lismore residents from the rooftops and balconies of submerged homes on Monday.
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of heavy rain, strong to damaging winds and waves looking likely to develop from Tuesday evening as a low moves towards central parts of the NSW coast.
It said a low will redevelop offshore then swing onshore on Wednesday and Thursday bringing widespread heavy rain and coastal erosion from Newcastle and stretching down to the Victoria border.
The current flood crisis has engulfed the northeastern part of state with multiple major flood warnings including the Tweed, Richmond, Wilsons, Brunswick, Bellinger and Clarence rivers.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said “it’s heartbreaking to see communities hit by such severe flooding for the second time in 12 months”.
Shelly Hayes, from the flooded area of Coraki about 25 km south of Lismore, was worried about food supplies
“As a town we’re going to need a food drop because all the roads are cut off, so we can’t get out and nothing can come in,” she told AAP.
Chris Beattie, chief officer of the SA SES said South Australia had recently experienced first-hand the devastating impact flooding can have on communities.
“Our thoughts go out to the people of New South Wales during this time,’’ he said.
“New South Wales emergency services are working with a range of state and national agencies to provide a coordinated response to this event and SA SES and MFS personnel will be part of that.”
More rain set for flood-hit Queensland
More rain is set to inundate southeast Queensland, prolonging devastating flooding and disrupting clean-up efforts across the region.
A “Mud Army” of volunteers is primed to mop up once flood waters that have killed eight people and damaged thousands of homes and businesses recede.
There are also about 200 Defence Force personnel on standby to provide support to the Queensland government’s recovery efforts.
However, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned severe thunderstorms are set to return this week in what is expected to frustrate clean up efforts.
“Severe thunderstorms are possible mid and late week over south eastern parts of Queensland,” BOM’s Dean Narramore said.
“They can bring heavy rain and damaging winds and large hail that will continue to impact the recovery efforts ongoing through southeastern parts ofxjmtzyw Queensland.”
Logan and Gold Coast City Councils are bracing themselves with flooding expected to exceed record 2017 levels on Tuesday.
The regions are copping the tail end of a low-pressure system moving south that has dumped one year’s worth of rain on parts of the southeast, affecting about 15,000 homes.
The Logan River is set to exceed the landmark 2017 flood level of 20.50m when ex-tropical cyclone Debbie hit.
About 1000 properties are already affected in the region before the 9am Tuesday predicted peak, prompting the council to open a 24-7 evacuation centre at Crestmead.
Gold Coast has issued emergency alerts for Currumbin Valley and Tallebudgera Valley with 24-7 evacuation centres at Burleigh and Ormeau.
Gold Coast beaches will remain closed on Tuesday with a sandbag station set up at Pimpama.
In Brisbane, emergency services are monitoring a crane on a pontoon that broke free of its moorings near the Story Bridge on Monday afternoon due to major flooding.
Ukraine seeks to join EU, Russia talks end
A child cries as people try to board a train out of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Vadim Ghirda/AP
An embattled Ukraine has applied to join the European Union while the first round of Ukraine-Russia talks aimed at ending the fighting has concluded with no deal but an agreement to keep talking.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted photos of himself signing the EU application, a largely symbolic move for now that could take years to become reality and is unlikely to sit well with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has long accused US and its European allies of trying to pull Ukraine into its orbit.
Russian and Ukrainian officials held their meeting on day five of the war under the shadow of Putin’s nuclear threats and with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine running into unexpectedly fierce resistance.
A top Zelenskiy adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said the the talks, held near the Ukraine-Belarus border, were focused on a possible ceasefire and that a second round could take place “in the near future”.
A top Putin aide and head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said that the discussions lasted nearly five hours and that the envoys “found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen”.
He said they agreed to continue the talks in the coming days.
As the discussions wrapped up, several blasts could be heard in Kyiv although no details were immediately known.
Russian troops, who are attacking Ukraine on multiple fronts, were advancing slowly on the capital city of nearly three million people and were about 25km from the city centre, according to a senior US defence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Messages aimed at the advancing Russian soldiers popped up on billboards, bus stops and electronic traffic signs across Kyiv.
Some used profanity to encourage Russians to leave while others appealed to their humanity.
“Russian soldier – Stop! Remember your family. Go home with a clean conscience,” one read.
Meanwhile, social media video from Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv showed residential areas being shelled, with apartment buildings shaken by repeated powerful blasts.
Authorities in Kharkiv said at least seven people had been killed and dozens injured.
SA public servants told to return to the office
Public sector employees are being advised to return to the office, with the State Government removing a cap that that had required 50 per cent to work from home.
It comes as South Australia yesterday recorded 1358 new COVID cases and the death of a man in his 80s who had tested positive.
Treasurer and Public Sector Minister Rob Lucas last night said he had decided to remove the 50 per cent density limit for non-essential public sector workers, with government agencies now encouraged to return their employees to the office “safely”.
He said it would provide much-needed stimulus and activity for CBD businesses which rely heavily on support from office workers.
“While we don’t expect this decision will result in 100 per cent of eligible employees returning to the office, given the sector’s support for flexible working arrangements, we do expect there will be a significant uplift in numbers returning to the city, safely,” Lucas said.
“This will be welcome news for many CBD businesses, particularly cafes, restaurants, pubs and other retailers, who rely on foot traffic and support from office workers.”
Lucas said employees would still need to adhere to COVID-safe practices, including maintaining physical distancing and washing or sanitising hands regularly and that masks would be required where physical distancing can’t be maintained.
Property Council SA executive director Daniel Gannon welcomed the announcement and said private sector businesses should follow suit.
“This is a great decision and one that will be welcomed with open arms by CBD landlords, retailers, and small business owners,” he said.
“It’s important to remember that it is safe to leave your house, it is safe to have dinner in the city, it is safe to return to the workplace – and there is now no longer any density impediment stopping you.”
Australia facing fiery future: Climate change report
Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo
Australia will have more floods, bushfires and droughts and stands to lose entire ecosystems to climate change, a major international report warns.
Scientists who wrote the Australasian chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report say that the nation is barrelling towards a future that will be full of disasters like the floods currently hitting NSW and Queensland.
They found Australia is lagging when it comes to planning and executing strategies to adapt to the risks climate change will deliver.
National progress on adaptation is uneven, the report says, citing a lack of consistent policy direction and “competing objectives”.
The IPCC report, representing a large-scale review of global warming research, also warns some species and ecosystems are approaching the limit of their capacity to adapt.
The Great Barrier Reef and snow-dependent plant and animal species in Australia’s Alpine region are said to be at critical thresholds, with limited scope for adaptation.
“The region faces an extremely challenging future. Reducing the risks would require significant and rapid emission reductions to keep global warming to 1.5C to 2C, as well as robust and timely adaptation,” the report says.
“The projected warming under current global emissions reduction policies would leave many of the region’s human and natural systems at very high risk and beyond adaptation limits.”
Mark Howden, a professor at the Australian National University and vice-chair of the working group that compiled the report, said Australians must acknowledge that climate change is already here, affecting almost every aspect of life on every continent.
He said it’s embedded in extreme weather events like the current floods and in the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.
