Sewage expected to overflow into flood water, Queensland water authority warns
Look, this is both gross and important. In QLD the Seqwater authority is warning that sewage is expected to overflow into some flood water:
We’re experiencing wastewater overflows and releases from some of our wastewater infrastructure due to a range of reasons including increased flows from wet weather, power outages or critical components of pump stations having been removed as part of preparation works.
We’re reminding people to avoid contact with flood water and local waterways following wet weather. During wet weather events, waterways can be impacted by a range of sources including diluted wastewater, debris, animal waste and stormwater run-off.
Drinking water remains safe.
You can find more info here: https://www.urbanutilities.com.au/faults-and-interruptions/incidents
Key events
Brisbane records wettest day in 51 years
Weatherzone is reporting Brisbane has had its wettest day in 51 years.
A huge total of 275.2mm accumulated in the gauge in the 24 hours to 9am Monday, making it Brisbane’s wettest 24-hour period since 314mm fell in the 24 hours to 9am on 26 January 1974 – the year of the devastating Brisbane River floods in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Wanda.
In a statement, Weatherzone said:
The good news for sodden Brisbane locals is that heavy rain is expected to ease this afternoon, with showers on the cards for the rest of the week rather than persistent rain.
But the immediate situation remains extremely serious across significant parts of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW. Numerous flood warnings are in place, as well as multiple emergency warnings from NSW and Qld authorities.
Sewage expected to overflow into flood water, Queensland water authority warns
Look, this is both gross and important. In QLD the Seqwater authority is warning that sewage is expected to overflow into some flood water:
We’re experiencing wastewater overflows and releases from some of our wastewater infrastructure due to a range of reasons including increased flows from wet weather, power outages or critical components of pump stations having been removed as part of preparation works.
We’re reminding people to avoid contact with flood water and local waterways following wet weather. During wet weather events, waterways can be impacted by a range of sources including diluted wastewater, debris, animal waste and stormwater run-off.
Drinking water remains safe.
You can find more info here: https://www.urbanutilities.com.au/faults-and-interruptions/incidents
PM spruiks tax cuts when asked about budget
And we are back on the budget … again. For those tuning into the news cycle now, the budget is going ahead.
People can expect a budget on March 25, which is what we’ve been planning. And the expenditure Review Committee concluded all of our portfolio budget submissions a couple of weeks ago now, and my government has consistently provided cost-of-living support.
We provided a tax cut for every single Australian taxpayer. We provided energy bill relief, cheaper childcare, free TAFE, cheaper medicines.
PM says he has been giving support in wake of ex-cyclone ‘in a totally non-political way’
And the PM is taking questions now. He has been asked about the comments Peter Dutton made saying he was not at a party but a fundraiser before the cyclone hit.
I haven’t seen those comments from Mr Dutton. I haven’t seen any comments from Mr. Dutton for a while, but … I’ve been getting on with doing this job.
That’s what I’ve been doing, giving support to people in a totally non-political way. And I think it’s disappointing if, if there’s any suggestion otherwise, I made sure, before I came here, that I rang Kevin Hogan. Made sure he was aware, as the local federal member, the local state member here, and we’ve acted across the board.
Less than 10,000 houses still without power, NSW energy minister says
Penny Sharpe, the NSW energy minister, gives a brief update on the power situation in the state:
There [are] less than 10,000 houses that are without power. Now, 10,000 is still a lot, and for those that are impacted, we understand, and we’re moving as quickly as possible. But that’s down from 43,000 in a very short period of time. For those communities and people that are very isolated, it will take longer. But understand that Essential Energy is working day and night to put crews in place to get you up and running as soon as possible.
‘We’re not out of the woods’, SES commissioner says
Wassing reminds people that it’s not over yet:
We’re not out of the woods. We still have many isolated communities, many communities who are still at risk with heavy rainfall. It’s really important that again – for the Mid North Coast right up to the north-east – that people are watching the Hazards Near Me app, continue to work with the emergency services.
Unfortunately people are still walking into and driving into flood waters. I understand the appetite to check on your home and get home, but in some cases that’s not yet safe to do so, and in other areas it’s safe to do so. The key message is please keep in touch with us, work with us, as you have done, and we’ll all get home safely including our emergency services personnel.
Last evacuation order lifted for North Lismore area, NSW SES commissioner says
The NSW SES commissioner Michael Wassing has taken the mic at the PM’s press conference in Lismore. He says the last evacuation order has been lifted for the North Lismore area.
He reminds the public that the roads are still slippery, many still have access issues or water over them, and there’s debris still around from the storms. He encourages people, when they get home, to check their homes for damage and call for assistance if they need it.
Albanese praises resilience of Lismore community
Albanese says there are grants for eligible impacted residents, and will cover emergency costs, replacement of damaged household goods and reconnection of services.
He says there are emergency hardship assistance grants, essential services, hardship assistance, essential household contents grants and structural assistance grants.
Albanese praises the resilience of the Lismore community:
This has been a difficult period, but we are seeing it through and we are seeing it through together as a community, as Australians, showing who we are. We’re a resilient bunch and we deal with hardship. And this community of Lismore have dealt with far more than its fair share. And the fact that the mayor, when I spoke to him just a few days ago, he was in good spirits. He’s still in good spirits today. It says a lot about this community, that they are so tough. But toughness also requires common sense, and I’m sure that that will continue to occur.
Albanese says 13-week income support available for workers affected by Alfred
My apologies for the press conference whiplash, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking now in Lismore.
He says that from tomorrow, eligible workers and sole traders in south-east Queensland and NSW who have lost income as a direct result of ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred, will be able to access up to 13 weeks of income support.
Albanese says:
That will click in and be available for applications from 2:00 tomorrow, but people can check on their eligibility by logging in now to the myGov website or the Services Australia website. The Disaster Recovery Allowance is a solely commonwealth funded allowance.
It provides up to 13 weeks of income support at the jobseeker level to individuals who work in the local government areas impacted, and of those across NSW and Queensland. There are 31 local government areas who’ve been impacted as a direct result of this disaster.
Further today, along with the Queensland premier, who will be making an announcement as well, jointly funded commonwealth state support is kicking in. The Personal Hardship Assistance Scheme will be activated for impacted residents in the Logan, Gold Coast, City and Redland City Council areas.
Crisafulli says schools to advise parents on closures
Crisafulli is back taking questions now. He says the government doesn’t know what the damage bill will be yet from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, as it’s too early to know.
On schools, the premier says that at 5pm every day schools will put out information on what’s open and what’s closed. He says:
If in the morning a principal makes a local decision to close a school because they believe something has changed, either it’s lost electricity or no longer safe to get there, we’ll back that local principal to make that decision. They make the assessments, we put them online at 5pm [and] that will give the vast majority of people the chance to play for the day ahead.
Disaster declaration in place for Toowoomba, including Laidley and Lockyer Valley
Chelepy says all the at-risk homes of Laidley, which is experiencing significant flooding, and surrounding suburbs including Rosewood and Grantham, have been door knocked by police.
A disaster declaration has been put in place this morning for Toowoomba, including Laidley and Lockyer Valley, and there are two emergency alerts in place for Lockyer Valley and Laidley.
Chelepy says:
We’re expecting the Warrego highway to remain closed for some time, that will impact the roads across this area. We have deployed additional resources into this area and pre-positioned these resources so regardless of what roads are cut off, we’re able to respond whether it be from the west or the east, or the north.
Missing 18-year-old male from Logan found safe and well this morning
Shane Chelepy, acting Queensland police commissioner, is addressing the media now
Police have located the missing 18-year-old male from Logan safe and well this morning following a search-and-rescue at Logan Reserve overnight, Chelepy says. He thanks the public for their help in providing information to police.
Chelepy says in addition to the resources already deployed, an extra 249 police officers are out in the community today in affected areas, including 117 officers from the far north of the state and another 107 SES personnel arriving from interstate.
Severe weather warning for Brisbane, Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast areas, including Ipswich
The Bureau of Meteorology is expecting very heavy to intense rainfall across the severe weather warning area, leading to “dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding”.
The severe weather warning area includes Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast areas, including Ipswich. Expected rainfall totals over six hours are in the range of 80mm to 120mm, the Bureau’s spokesperson says.
The last 24 hours has already seen significant rainfall – some of the most significant includes 433mm at Diamond Creek on the Sunshine Coast, 410mm at Wongawallan, inland from the Gold Coast, 340mm at Mount Coot-Tha in the Brisbane area, and more than 300mm in the Brisbane metropolitan area.
The Bureau’s spokesperson says:
I just want to stress, we’re still in a severe weather warning and there is still significant flooding occurring throughout south-east Queensland. The situation does remain ongoing. We are still forecasting an easing in the weather later Monday afternoon, but the flooding will continue.
BoM says rain has eased in some parts but ‘risk is not over’
A spokesperson from the Bureau of Meteorology is speaking to media in Queensland now. She reiterates that today will be a challenging day in the state:
Earlier this morning, we were tracking thunderstorms around the Cherbourg, Somerset and Lockyer Valley council regions, in which were producing 50mm of rainfall in an hour. And we did see totals up to 140mm in three hours in those thunderstorms. I’m pleased to report that the thunderstorms have now eased and the rainfall rates have dropped to a more regular 10mm an hour or so.
However, the risk is not over. We have a severe weather warning remaining current for south-east Queensland areas and it extends from Gympie, or to the north of Gympie, I should say, down to the Queensland border and westward to include areas of Toowoomba and out to Goondiwindi.
Premier says 463 state schools and 259 independent and Catholic schools still closed
And we have some school numbers. Crisafulli says 463 state schools and 259 independent and Catholic schools remain closed, while 200 schools re-opened today.
He said:
I want to assure parents that getting your kids safely back to school remains a priority for us, and I’m mindful that that’s the difference between police officer, health professional, someone working at the supermarket, someone working at the petrol station, being able to go back serve their community and earn a living.
So making sure that we do that is right at the top of mind.
‘Very difficult 24 hours’ for Hervey Bay
We mentioned earlier Hervey Bay has been hit hard yesterday, now Crisafulli says the damage is extensive.
It’s been a very difficult 24 hours for Hervey Bay.
Whilst the weather conditions are starting to look a little better, we urge that community to obviously stay connected. We have SES and Queensland Fire Department on the ground at the moment doing a couple of things. First and foremost, helping with damage assessments. And we, as you don’t know the scale of the damage, but we do have intel on the ground to suggest it is significant.
Crisafulli says there are still 200,000 homes and businesses without power
Crisafulli:
In the past 24 hours, Energex has reconnected about 140,000 Queensland homes and businesses, but there’s still over 200,000 without power, and I want to speak to those 200,000 people today.
I understand how much this has impacted you, and the impacts on food, your family, your mental health, your ability to be able to stay connected. Those crews are working around the clock.
And we assure you that getting power reconnected is at the top of at the top of our list right now.
He says crews were working around the lock last night to pre-emptively make sure an extra 100,000 homes did not lose power.
