‘Very dry and potentially dangerous’ fire conditions in NSW
NSW Rural Fire Service inspector Ben Shepherd spoke with the Today show just earlier about the strong winds forecast for the state, and elevated fire risk about the Illawarra and greater Sydney.
He said winds were slowly picking up about the coast, expected to peak around lunchtime and into the afternoon, “and that’s definitely driving up the fire danger”.
So through the Illawarra we’re expecting extreme fire danger, and for the greater Sydney area [there’s a] high fire danger …
Fires do start in these kind of conditions. They’re likely to escalate and escalate quickly and then potentially could actually impact on people or property. So that’s why those total fire bans are in place for those two areas today – and we want people to adhere to those warnings.
Shepherd said it’s not unusual to see fire bans in place at this time of spring, but typically “we do tend to see it more in the north of the state”.
We’ve seen a quick swing basically from being very wet across winter now to being very dry and potentially dangerous.
Key events
A reporter asked about the power outages that have swept the state, and whether it could take up to a week to restore, like last time. Rick Nugent responded:
Last time there was over 530,000 homes without power, it was a very significant storm as well and there’s only a finite number of resources that are available.
We are advised and are led to believe that the vast majority will be back on power, I expect there will be some delays with that.
I did so yesterday to the community, please plan for 72 hours, be ready for 72 hours in the event that for some reason, it does take that long.
Taking questions, Commissioner Rick Nugent was not able to say if the woman who died in Moama was a local or on holidays.
As we reported earlier, the woman died after a tree fell on a cabin in southern NSW.
That matter is being investigated by NSW Police and they will provide a report to the coroner, but we don’t have any of those details.
The meteorologist said there would be a more pleasant day tomorrow, wind another cold front expected to impact on Friday:
After we get through that, the good news is we see a return to a more pleasant day tomorrow… On Friday [there will be] another passage of a cold front, we will have to issue severe weather warnings again.
But it looks like a standard springtime passage of a cold front with the damaging winds likely be confined to the more elevated parts of the state.
Kevin Parkyn said the coastal hazard warning remains in place for damaging surf, with waves above 8m recorded at Cape Bridgewater near Portland.
They will be with us for another 12 hours before we see a gradual reduction in those significant wave heights.
Kevin Parkyn said the severe weather warning for damaging winds could be cancelled tonight:
The expectation is that that warning will contract to largely coastal areas and Gippsland later this afternoon and with any luck, we’ll be able to cancel that warning tonight which I’m sure everyone will be relieved about.
141km/h wind gust recorded at Port Phillip Bay
Kevin Parkyn from the Bureau of Meteorology is now speaking with the media in Victoria.
He listed some of the notable wind gusts that were recorded:
When we look at some of the wind gusts that have affected Victoria in the last 12 hours, we saw 146km/h recorded at Wilsons lighthouse, 141 at Mount Hotham.
Those are not too unusual, it is pretty windy in those locations, but what is impressive is the wind gust recorded at Faulkner Peak in Port Phillip Bay – 141km/h and that’s gotta be close to a record.
Circling back to the press conference in Victoria:
Commissioner Rick Nugent said that of the 2,800 calls for assistance the SES received, 1,452 remain active.
Many properties have been damaged due to this weather event, the storm that came through. There are some homes that are [un]inhabitable, we do not know how many yet because impact assessments need to be undertaken.
Joe Hinchliffe A tiger handler has been mauled at a Gold Coast theme park, according to media reports.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reported on Monday morning that a tiger handler at Dreamworld was rushed to hospital after a “nasty” encounter with a big cat left her with “multiple deep lacerations”.
A Queensland Ambulance Service media spokesperson confirmed that paramedics had transported a woman from Dreamworld Parkway to Gold Coast University “with arm injuries following an incident involving a tiger” at about 9am.
The woman, in her 30s, was in a stable condition.
Many Victorian volunteers missed out on Father’s Day celebrations
Commissioner Rick Nugent from Emergency Management Victoria is now speaking to the media, and noted that many volunteers missed out on Father’s Day celebrations yesterday:
Many of our volunteers and emergency service workers missed out on spending Father’s Day with [their families], so I really do thank them for their commitment and effort and professionalism.
I also want to thank the community – it is clear to us that community did listen to the messages over the past couple of days. They heeded the messages and took action, many people were not on the roads at the high-risk period and we are really pleased with that.
School closures, remote learning in Victoria amid weather
Jacinta Allan said that two government schools are closed today amid the strong winds, and “a number of non-government schools [also] asked their students to learn remotely today”.
121,000 without power across Victoria
The Victorian premier said around 121,000 people across the state are currently without power.
Jacinta Allan said almost 700 Telstra fixed-line customers were also not able to make or receive calls.
That work is being done to coordinate the response and restore services as quickly as possible.
People are still being urged to avoid necessary travel where possible, but if they need to go, “”please check the local warnings, please drive to local conditions and be mindful of fallen trees and debris that may be across local roads”.
Jacinta Allan said the SES had received over 2,800 calls for assistance since 7pm last night to 10am this morning.
Mostly for fallen trees and building damage, and to give you a sense of just how remarkable the response is from our SES – more than half of those cases have already been cleared …
That 2,800 number is expected to increase as Victorians assess the damage over the course of this morning.
Coastal communities urged to take shelter
Jacinta Allan said there is expected to be “localised” weather events today, following the severe weather overnight.
We are particularly urging communities in those coastal areas to prepare and take shelter … Areas of potential risk include the south-west coast, including the Bellarine Peninsula, parts of Geelong, Mornington Peninsula, Dandenong Ranges, Yarra Ranges, Alpine regions and also Macedon Ranges.
Jacinta Allan addresses media about severe weather in Victoria
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is speaking to reporters amid the severe weather lashing the state.
She sent her “deepest sympathies” to the family and loved ones of a woman killed after a tree fell on her cabin at Moama.
Allan also thanked crews who “worked overnight and are continuing to work through [today] for their incredibly selfless work during these difficult times”.
Government shouldn’t have excluded LGBTQ+ people from census, Thorpe says
Lidia Thorpe also said it was an “insult” to exclude the LGBTQ+ community from the 2026 census, and accused the government of being “very good at backflipping”.
She told ABC News Breakfast:
I thought it was an absolute insult from the beginning to not include gender diverse people, LGBTIQ people in the census. It’s our community, we are part of that community, and you can’t have governments deciding who is in and who is out of an community … I’m glad they have backflipped, but shouldn’t have done it in the first place.
Lidia Thorpe weighs in on NT government move to lower age of criminal responsibility
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe was on ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning, and was asked about the Northern Territory plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10.
Country Liberal party chief minister, Lia Finocchiaro, made the announcement last week after a landslide victory in the territory election.
Asked if she was concerned about the ages of children getting caught up in this system, Thorpe said:
In our community [10-year-olds are] still our babies … the prime minister needs to take leadership on raising the age of legal responsibility. The majority of children are First Nations children and the majority of children locked up have a disability. We’re locking up children with disabilities and the system is not broken – the system is designed to create harm, cause harm, and that’s exactly what it’s doing.
We need to have these kids back in the community having connection to country and culture and song and dance and that’s the sense of identity that, you know, I grew up with and a lot of our people grow up with, but this is what’s been robbed from these children. They’re not being educated in these systems, they’re not being loved in these systems, and when they come out, they are worse than when they went in. So, you know, this is about political points-scoring.
Victorian assess damage to properties after night of strong winds
Victorians have been assessing damage to their properties this morning, after awaking from a night of strong, gusty winds.
One Melburnian awoke to find a greenhouse had blown into their back yard – which they assume “belongs back over the fence”.
Another awoke to find their roller door, which had just been replaced, was bent in the winds:
Another person captured this “fresh blizzard blast” along Mentone Beach this morning:
And one Geelong resident said in their 40 years living there, they had “never seen winds as strong or continuous as the past week”, describing the weather as “horrendous”.
Meteorologist provides update on strong winds
Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Sarah Scully, has been speaking with ABC News Breakfast about the strong winds across southern Australia.
She described the weather situation overnight in Victoria, which has led to a huge number of calls to the SES for assistance – around 1,900.
We had the very strong cold front that pushed across Victorian and Tasmania overnight, moving through the Melbourne area around 2am … That front is moving into eastern parts of Victoria with the winds becoming locally destructive through that area there, but it’s still very windy through Melbourne and through on and south of the ranges of Victoria.
Scully said those winds are expected to start increasing across eastern NSW throughout today, particularly around Sydney in the next couple of hours and into the afternoon. This is coupled with an elevated fire risk for the Illawarra and greater Sydney.
She also said Tasmania’s peak windy night was on Saturday, and last night the focus was more on rainfall, with widespread totals between 40-60mm.
Plan for up to 72 hours without power, Commissioner says
Some homes may be uninhabitable after strong winds in Victoria
Tiger handler reportedly mauled at Gold Coast theme park
More than 2,800 callouts for assistance in Victoria
