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Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 03 March 2022; Hits: 124

About half a million people have been told to evacuate their homes in NSW as disastrous floods continue, but lower than expected rainfall has brought some reprieve for those in the path of the spilling Warragamba Dam.

Some 130,000 households were told on Thursday afternoon the volume of water surging out of the dam won't be the same as seen during devastating floods in 2021.

About 600 gigalitres of water had been predicted to spill, but with less rainfall in the catchment area than expected, WaterNSW announced the forecast had been revised down to between 300 and 350 gigalitres a day.

That's below the 440 gigalitres a day that surged out of the dam during flooding last year.

"This prediction is still subject to advice from the Bureau of Meteorology and will be ultimately determined by the intensity of the rain event and the inflows generated," WaterNSW said on Thursday.

Most dams in Greater Sydney have spilled, including all dams in the Upper Nepean region.

While Warragamba dam spillage has been revised down, several rivers are still above their major flood level or approaching it.

Moderate to major flooding is expected in western Sydney along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Georges rivers, and the Colo and Macdonald rivers at Menangle, North Richmond, Penrith and Windsor, with dozens of suburbs on high alert.

The SES responded to more than 2500 requests for assistance and conducted 144 flood rescues in the 24 hours until 5pm on Thursday.

Further severe weather is expected around NSW, particularly along the coast.

The BOM says the slow moving offshore low pressure system that has delivered hundreds of millimetres of rain and floods across two states over the past week will begin to weaken.

Bureau meteorologist Jackson Browne says the low is expected to wash out overnight, but another cold front on the way from Victoria will bring more rain and severe weather into the weekend.

Tens of thousands of people living in Sydney's west, northwest and southwestern suburbs including Windsor, North Richmond, Camden and Milperra have been ordered to flee with evacuation centres set up in suburbs including Canley Vale and Blacktown.

Charity Save the Children Australia has set up child-friendly spaces at the Canley Vale centre and has also sent teams to northern NSW centres.

More than 300 schools across the state are closed because of flooding.

Endeavour Energy is advising customers in low-lying areas to prepare now for power cuts ahead of rising floodwater levels.

Some 650 properties - mainly along the Hawkesbury, Nepean and Colo rivers - have had power cut.

They are likely to be without power for several days.

Further north, thousands of properties remain without power after flooding earlier in the week.

Essential Energy said on Thursday night there were 13,800 customers without power in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions, after power had been restored to more than 28,800.

Much of the damaged network is still underwater.

In Lismore, the clean-up and search of flooded homes continues, with four fatalities confirmed so far.

The town is also facing shortages of essentials such as food, fuel, fresh water and cash as ATMs run out of money.

The BOM has warned areas on the Mid North coast and Hunter region already impacted by flooding could see renewed river rises with thunderstorms forecast across the district on Thursday afternoon.

Abnormally high tides and damaging surf warnings are also in place for practically the entire NSW coastline, with east-facing beaches at greater risk.

Coastal erosion is likely and low lying areas could also be affected by tidal flooding.

SES members have come to NSW from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania to assist local units.

Insurers have already received more than 60,000 claims from recent flooding in southeast Queensland and around NSW.

The majority of those claims are from Queensland, however, the Insurance Council of Australia expects NSW claims to increase as flooding continues.

More than 80 per cent of the claims are for flooded properties, with the rest for vehicles.

The ICA predicts about $900 million worth of claims to come through insurers.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 03 March 2022; Hits: 112

Neighbours has announced it will cease production of the long-running Australian soap in June.

The future of the show had been in doubt after Britain's Channel 5 last month confirmed it would stop airing the show.

And on Thursday morning the show's Twitter account said: "We are so sorry to say that after nearly 37 years and almost 9000 episodes broadcast we have to confirm that Neighbours will cease production in June.

"Following the loss of our key broadcast partner in the UK and despite an extensive search for alternative funding, we simply have no option but to rest the show.

"To our amazing, loyal fans, we know this is a huge disappointment, as it is to all of us on the team. We thank you for all your messages and support and promise to end the show on an incredible high. From here on, we are celebrating Neighbours."

The drama about the residents of Ramsay Street has been shown on UK television for more than 30 years and launched the careers of stars including Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan and Margot Robbie.

Channel 5 said dropping the soap would allow funding to be diverted to original UK dramas.

The longest-running drama series on Australian television, Neighbours initially launched on the Seven network in 1985, but the channel axed it before Ten picked it up the following year and it became an international hit.

In Australia it has been shown on digital channel 10 Peach since 2011 and has been reliant on the UK broadcaster for funding.

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 03 March 2022; Hits: 104

A baby has been rescued by emergency crews in northern NSW after a family was cut off by floodwaters, lost power and water supply at their home and ran out of baby food.

The rescue came as thousands of homes in and around flood-hit Lismore are being searched for missing people, with fears the flood death toll of four could rise further.

The rescued family had been stranded with their three-month old and two children aged four and six, with water surrounding their home at Tatham, near Casino, about 23km from Lismore, Fire and Rescue NSW said on Thursday.

The area has just endured its worst-ever flood crisis, with NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet calling the situation in the Northern Rivers "heartbreaking".

The family waved down a passing flood boat crew of NSW firefighters and Victorian SES members who fitted the baby and the rest of the family with life jackets before taking them on board.

They are now safely across the Richmond River at Goonellabah with the children's grandmother.

It was the boat's second rescue for the day after the crew earlier saved three people and seven puppies stranded after a bridge collapse outside Casino.

A dog breeder had become traumatised after flash flooding destroyed the bridge leading to her home on Tuesday, Fire and Rescue NSW said.

The crew reached the woman at her remote home by taking a 5km trek, and used ropes to scale over a 10 metre drop where the bridge had washed away.

Two other stranded people were collected while the dog breeder received medical treatment.

The trio and the litter of seven puppies were taken to safety at a local evacuation centre.

Crews in northern NSW are checking thousands of homes for missing people.

NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Paul Baxter says people need to brace for the prospect of more fatalities, after four people were found dead in the wake of the unprecedented flooding.

As the waters began to subside, two women in their 80s and a man in his 70s were discovered dead in their flooded homes, and the body of another man was found floating in a Lismore street.

Police are still working out how many people are missing and Mr Baxter said "some people just haven't been heard from".

Communications remain difficult in Lismore and many people who are unaccounted for may simply have been unable to make contact.

The next step involves emergency workers going house to house and speaking with locals in hard-hit areas to try to find people who have not made contact since the deluge.

"We are talking literally thousands of homes," Mr Baxter said.

The task ahead was "epic", and now included crews from the State Emergency Service, the Rural Fire Service, Resilience NSW and the Australian Defence Force, he said.

"This is a big disaster and it's over such a widespread area. It's going to be hard work."

Lismore Mayor Steve Krieg said the NSW and federal governments needed to listen to residents, after countless homes and business were ruined by the inundation.

"There are plans that have been in place for many, many years to mitigate the flood levels in Lismore," Mr Krieg said on Thursday.

The town is also facing food shortages - most supermarkets were underwater - as well as petrol shortages.

Residents reported ATMs have run out of cash.

Nearby Ballina, which was hit hard by flooding, also has food and petrol shortages and is banking on freight lines reopening on Thursday.

"Many people today in the Northern Rivers and over the last 24 hours have returned home, and they are returning home to heartbreaking scenes," NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

ADF helicopters were being used to drop critical food supplies to evacuation centres and isolated properties.

"The challenge is going to be enormous," Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke said, saying hard rubbish disposal would be a major challenge.

The road to recovery will be "very, very long".

Details: Written by Grant Broadcasters; Category: Received; Published: 03 March 2022; Hits: 98

Emergency crews in northern NSW are undertaking the painful process of checking thousands of homes for missing people after the regional city of Lismore endured its worst-ever flood crisis.