Weather News

Emergency water to cost ratepayers $70k per week, as they seek solutions

04:53 AEST Frustrated Mount Morgan residents want a long-term solution to their dwindling town water supply in central Queensland, as carting water is costing the region's ratepayers $70,000 a week.
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Darwin's Timor-Leste community pleads for faster flood disaster response

02:59 AEST Fernanda Borges remembers Australia assisting Timor-Leste when the tiny country was struggling with violence after its independence vote.
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Helicopter rescues now 1,000 km closer for Gascoyne and Pilbara

02:22 AEST A not-for-profit helicopter rescue service is due to launch in Carnarvon in the middle of this year, filling a much-needed rescue gap across a huge swathe of the Gascoyne and Pilbara.
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Police helicopter officer nails three difficult rescues in Tasmania's wilderness in first week

23:01 AEST Constable Bryan Powell had to call on every bit of his helicopter rescue training during his first week on the job.
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Family-owned cotton farm sells for speculated $100 million to Australian interests

22:36 AEST One of Australia's best mixed-farming operations with more than 6,000 megalitres of water entitlements has sold for a speculated price of about $100 million.
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Cyclone sees Australian Defence Force sent to Northampton in WA to help residents rebuild

14:19 AEST The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been sent to Western Australia's Mid West region to help thousands of people get back on their feet after Tropical Cyclone Seroja carved a path of destruction through the state.
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Dookie in regional Victoria named as new site for Victoria's drought resilience hub

07:59 AEST The University of Melbourne's Dookie Campus has been named as the site for the multimillion-dollar Drought Resilience Adoption Hub in Victoria.
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Dog alerts owners to neighbour's cries for help after farm accident with ride-on mower

06:00 AEST A man severely injured in a farm accident in an area hit by flooding rains just days earlier says he owes his life to his neighbour's dog.
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Storm-hit banana growers to receive extra $50K in grants after weeks of uncertainty

03:52 AEST Storm-stricken banana farmers have cautiously welcomed the Queensland Government's latest move to increase assistance grants as they battle to recover from the disaster.
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Kalbarri destruction from Cyclone Seroja could take two years to rebuild as residents count cost

23:37 AEST Cyclone victims could be left homeless and facing a two-year wait to rebuild amid labour and materials shortages in Australia as they deal with the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Seroja.
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The rare weather phenomenon which sent Cyclone Seroja down south

21:23 AEST People in the small tourist towns of Kalbarri and Northampton in WA woke on Monday morning to utter destruction left in the path of ex-tropical cyclone Seroja.
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Cyclone Seroja leaves Kalbarri residents 'shell-shocked' as power may be out for days

13:58 AEST The power could be out for days in the Mid West region after towns were decimated by ex-Tropical Cyclone Seroja on Sunday night, which ripped roofs off buildings, uprooted trees and flooded streets.
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Northerly winds cause dust storms in SA, roads closed after three-car crash

07:37 AEST Authorities have closed roads and issued warnings to motorists as dust storms move across South Australia.
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Debris in swollen Hawkesbury River causing problems for fishers and boaties

01:28 AEST Boaties and fishers are continuing to dodge debris submerged in the Hawkesbury River following last month's floods.
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North Queensland banana farmer furious at lack of assistance after wind damage

23:03 AEST An Innisfail banana producer says growers are not receiving enough support six weeks after freak winds devastated the region's farms.
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Ex-Tropical Cyclone Seroja destroys homes, historic jetty and leaves thousands without power

21:44 AEST Kalbarri has been decimated by ex-Tropical Cyclone Seroja with authorities estimating damage to about 70 per cent of the town's buildings.
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Total fire bans announced for nine South Australian districts ahead of windy conditions

21:38 AEST Total fire bans have been issued across nine South Australian districts for Tuesday, as "very strong northerly winds" cause dangerous fire weather conditions.
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Ex-tropical cyclone Seroja moves well south of the continent so don't expect more tropical rain

20:26 AEST Ex-tropical cyclone Seroja has already made its way into the Great Australian Bight and out to sea, dashing hopes for any desired boost to rainfall in the south-east.
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Big surf flips boulders across road in Port Fairy, reigniting climate change, coastal erosion concerns

10:54 AEST Wild surf has battered Victoria's south-west coast, sweeping large boulders onto roads and trapping a family on an island off Port Fairy.
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Tools rescued from NSW floods repaired by Men's Shed volunteers to help in recovery effort

04:01 AEST In a rescue mission of a different kind, hundreds of flood-damaged tools and machinery worth hundreds of thousands of dollars are being repaired and returned to their owners to help in recovery efforts.  Like many others on the NSW Mid North Coast, Andy McCoubrie could do little but watch as homes and businesses were flooded three weeks ago, including his own workshop.
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Wide Bay Burnett remains desperately dry despite La Niña drenching much of Australia

20:49 AEST It is a map that tells an encouraging story for most of Australia but a cruel tale for an unlucky few.
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Tropical Cyclone Seroja makes landfall, weakens to category two system

18:48 AEST The destructive core of Tropical Cyclone Seroja is moving inland north of Geraldton after wind gusts of up to 170 kph were reported during landfall.
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Body of woman, 78, missing since floods is found on rural property

01:29 AEST Police believe a body discovered yesterday belongs to a woman who went missing from the New South Wales Mid North Coast during last month's floods.
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Floods and landslides in Timor-Leste prompt 'overwhelming' response from Darwin community

01:10 AEST Salina Barreto has relatives in Timor-Leste whose homes have been washed down mountains after recent flooding and landslides.
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Carbon dioxide levels reach historic high as Joe Biden calls world leaders to climate talks

22:49 AEST Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached a milestone 421 parts per million last weekend, the highest concentration in 3.6 million years according to the .
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Tropical Cyclone Seroja strengthens off WA coast as communities prepare for landfall

11:57 AEST A yellow alert has been issued for people in or near Carnarvon, down to Kalbarri, but not including the Kalbarri or Carnarvon townsites.
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Cyclone Odette forms off WA coast in rare weather event with Cyclone Seroja, triggering blue alert

01:17 AEST A second tropical cyclone has formed off Western Australia, triggering a blue alert across a major section of the state's coastline from just south of Coral Bay to Geraldton.
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Farmer almost loses his faithful dogs in heroic cattle flood rescue

11:14 AEST A cattleman almost lost his trusty companions who risked it all when rescuing dozens of stranded cattle in the NSW Mid North Coast floods.
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Timor-Leste is reeling from record floods and people are just beginning to let it sink in

08:37 AEST When the floods came, Markus dos Santos lost almost everything.
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Beach erosion and big swell forecast for South Australia prompts warnings to stay away from beaches

05:21 AEST Beach erosion and extremely hazardous boating conditions are expected across most of the South Australian coast this weekend, with a massive swell prompting the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to warn people to stay away from affected cliffs and beaches.
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After some decent rain, is Queensland's record drought finally over?

00:06 AEST The paddocks are green, the cows are happy, and many farmers are smiling after weeks of rain.
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Cyclones to bring more rain further south in future, say the weather experts

20:55 AEST As a pack of tropical lows looms off the WA coast, the latest forecast is for the biggest, Tropical Cyclone Seroja, to continue south-west and turn towards the coast on Saturday.
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Cyclone Seroja brewing off WA coast joined by two tropical lows

08:48 AEST The cyclone brewing off the coast of Western Australia has now been joined by two other tropical lows nearby, adding to an already rare weather event.
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Flood traps family of five who hike to safety after days isolated at rainforest cabin in Upper Lansdowne

03:15 AEST James Archer says his wife is a true hero for helping save their young family when floodwaters surrounded their remote cabin.
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Forecasting extreme weather to assist emergency services response in Tasmania

00:25 AEST Tasmania experiences an amazing range of weather that can be beautiful or bleak.
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Barwon River flood transforms tiny border town of Mungindi after drought, COVID and fire

22:59 AEST For the past 12 months, Mungindi residents have had little to smile about.  The border town ? split between Queensland and New South Wales ? lost its only supermarket and butcher in a massive fire last September, compounding weeks of stress over COVID-19 border restrictions that cut the community off from key services.
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Two looming cyclones off WA set to create rare weather phenomenon known as Fujiwhara Effect

10:52 AEST A rare weather phenomenon is developing off the West Australian coast as two brewing cyclones look set to interact this week.
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Floods reveal 'unbelievable' discovery, family boat washes 70km downstream to uncle's backyard

02:42 AEST In 2016, an aluminium boat provided the perfect setting for Brad Gow's wedding proposal.  Five years later,  it has provided another silver lining for his flood-ravaged family ? finding its way home after being swept away in a raging river.
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Blue Mountains' greater glider population found to have crashed by estimated 60 per cent

20:54 AEST Bushfires, drought, and heatwaves have smashed the population of native greater gliders in New South Wales' Blue Mountains by around 60 per cent, new research has found.
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Deluge misses flowing into Wivenhoe Dam, north-west of Brisbane, with water levels just 'a tick over 37 per cent'

19:40 AEST More than 10 dams in south-east Queensland are overflowing after steady rain but the region's largest, Wivenhoe Dam north-west of Brisbane, has missed out, authorities say.  Residents in south-east Queensland are being asked to conserve water as dams central to the region have not received as much rainfall as their coastal counterparts during the deluge over the last week.
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Steady rain brings localised flash flooding to south-east Queensland, tourism operators hoping for reprieve

04:02 AEST Queensland tourism operators say they've had "doubly bad luck" this Easter weekend, with last week's lockdown and poor weather prompting waves of cancellations across the state.
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ABC Mid North Coast journalist Luisa Rubbo went from reporting on Port Macquarie floods to being evacuated from her home

00:50 AEST In my 20 years living and raising our family in Port Macquarie, on the NSW Mid North Coast, I have never seen the floodwater come so high around our house.
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Australian government to support Timor-Leste flood recovery after at least 27 people die

09:47 AEST The Australian government says it "stands ready" to help Timor-Leste after devastating floods hit the country, forcing thousands to take refuge and leaving at least 27 people dead.  The fledgling democracy was hammered by intense rain and storms on the weekend, sending surging torrents of water through towns and villages, and turning the streets of the capital Dili into canals.
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Humble heroes risk lives to lead horses trapped in NSW floods to safety

07:11 AEST When fast-rising floodwater surrounded Ann Biasol's home one of her first thoughts was for the safety of her horses.
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Threat of severe weather eases as low remains further off south-east Queensland coast

02:16 AEST A severe weather warning for south-east Queensland has been cancelled as a low pressure system sits further offshore, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says.
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Platypuses more affected by bushfires than drought, study finds

21:49 AEST In November 2019, the Mid North Coast of New South Wales was ravaged by bushfires, prompting researchers to conduct a study on the region's platypus numbers nine months later.
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Easter drenching begins as Queensland coastal areas expected to be battered with wild weather

12:07 AEST Parts of Queensland are bracing for extreme weather overnight and into Easter Monday, with central and coastal regions already copping a drenching amid several wild weather warnings.  The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has issued a severe weather warning for parts of the Wide Bay, Burnett and south-east coast regions, stretching from Seventeen Seventy down to Bribie Island.
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BOM weather warning for South East Queensland may put a dampener on Easter weekend celebrations

23:08 AEDT South East Queensland residents have been warned to stay home on Easter Monday, with severe weather forecast to bring rain, hail and damaging winds.
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Recovery from record drought under way for farming communities in south-west Queensland

21:25 AEDT Widespread rain and flooding have put drought-affected communities in south-west Queensland on the path to recovery.
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'Autumn predictability barrier' means April is the toughest month to make climate forecasts

21:24 AEDT After the recent record rain and the previous summer's record dry, what does this winter's climate have in store?  The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting April to June to be likely wetter than average across the north of Australia and drier than average for the southern half of Queensland, inland parts of NSW and Victoria, and far eastern SA.
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Severe weather expected to hit southern and central Queensland coast from Easter Sunday, BOM says

06:00 AEDT Queenslanders might be forced to keep Easter celebrations indoors this year, with severe weather predicted to reach the coast from Sunday.
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Stuarts Point septic spill evacuees demand fix to 'problematic system'

12:18 AEDT The overflow of septic tanks in Roger Earl?s coastal village left him and other residents infuriated, but sadly not surprised.
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Lake Pinaroo fills for first time in 10 years as Far West NSW welcomes heavy rains

05:44 AEDT For the first time in 10 years, Lake Pinaroo in the far west of New South Wales is full after heavy rains drenched the desert region.
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Queensland weather forecast points to damp Easter weekend across state's south-east

23:24 AEDT Predicted rain may put a damper on Easter weekend celebrations in Queensland, as Greater Brisbane emerges from lockdown.
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A bumper Easter long weekend is forecast for WA. Here's what to expect if you are heading away

06:44 AEDT West Australian tourism and accommodation providers are gearing up for what many expect could be their busiest Easter on record.
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NSW flood victims salvage what they can, holiday park residents 'devastated' and 'emotionally exhausted'

07:54 AEDT Residents of a holiday park on the New South Wales Mid North Coast are crying out for help after their properties are left destroyed by last week's flooding.
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Monsoon to return

12:54 AEDT The likely last monsoon trough for the season should move over far northern Australia late this week, bringing widespread rain and storms and an increased chance of tropical cyclones.
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Emergency water to cost ratepayers $70k per week, as they seek solutions

04:53 AEST Frustrated Mount Morgan residents want a long-term solution to their dwindling town water supply in central Queensland, as carting water is costing the region's ratepayers $70,000 a week.