Parts of NSW have seen floodwaters peak at 10.5m. Source: NSW SES.
Severe flooding has ravaged parts of New South Wales and Victoria, sending the death toll to six with officials urging people to avoid floodwaters.
Six people have died so far in this latest flooding event, with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet saying the most recent person was a 28-year-old woman who was caught in floodwaters as a passenger in the flooded car.
“Tragically… we received advice of a young woman who has died near Gulgong in the Central West… I extend my condolences to the family and to the friends.”
The first confirmed fatality was a 46-year-old man who was found submerged in his vehicle near Bathurst while a 71-year-old was sadly found in the backyard of his Rochester home several weeks ago.
Last week Victorian authorities said that a 65-year-old man was found in floodwaters near Shepparton and a 63-year-old man, who was reported missing, was unfortunately found at Wallanthery in rural NSW.
An intense weather system brought more than a month's worth of rain to the southeast of Australia this week. It comes after flooding in March and April on the east coast resulted in $3.3 billion worth of damage. So why is there so much rain? https://t.co/0R3B04oizH pic.twitter.com/4ulIATNaP3
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 18, 2022
Heavy storms and rain have also hit parts of South Australia which saw a 29-year-old man killed after being struck by lightning. Police say the man died at the scene around 5pm, which was at a rural property near Eba.
Rainfalls of 25 to 50mm are expected across parts of South Australia, eastern and southern NSW as well as large parts of Tasmania and Victoria.
According to NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Daniel Austin there are over 130 warnings in place throughout the state.
“While rain has affected the east coast over the weekend including the northern rivers, mid-north coast and Hunter, our focus continues on many communities on the western side of the Great Dividing Range along the Murray, Gwydir, Peel, Namoi, Murrumbidgee Rivers and the Central West, where our emergency warnings are in place,” he said.
“Over the past week, NSW SES members have responded to 2,150 requests for assistance and 107 flood rescues and delivered about 500,000 sandbags since the start of October.”
It’s believed $192 million worth of crops have been destroyed in NSW thus far.
In Queensland, severe thunderstorms are expected to hit parts of south-east Queensland this week and several days next week.
