NT faces severe weather warning as heavy rainfall sets in

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Wild weather is lashing parts of the country today. Heavy rainfall and damaging winds have hit the top end as the monsoon sets in.

Transcript

00:00 As you can probably see behind me, the rain is abating.

00:05 However, just over here where there's grass that's been affected by water, that's because

00:09 of how high the water was at one point, actually closing off parts of Finn Road here, which

00:15 meant that small vehicles were unable to pass.

00:17 That's thankfully receded, but there is still minor flooding just south of here towards

00:22 Adelaide River, about an hour south of Darwin, where roads there are being impacted to a

00:27 degree.

00:28 There's also a Watch and Act flood warning in place for parts of the north-western Northern

00:33 Territory around communities like Wattair, where there's been more than 500 mils of rain

00:38 since the weekend.

00:39 So huge dumps of rain.

00:42 Thankfully there's been no evacuations and no significant damage to property as reported.

00:46 A few trees have been blown down and we've seen some sinkholes even on the roads we've

00:51 travelled around today, as has been reported over the weekend as well.

00:56 Also, some people are enjoying the cooler weather.

00:58 It has been a really unseasonably hot and prolonged build-up season, but now that the

01:03 monsoons come, a cooler change has arrived here.

01:06 Alright, so what's the weather likely to do in the coming days, Miles?

01:12 Well there's this tropical low that's moving inland and southward, south of Darwin, and

01:17 it will continue to travel there.

01:19 It's likely to impact towns like Catherine and Elliot.

01:22 Catherine's about three hours south of Darwin, Elliot seven hours, so there will still be

01:27 significant rain right up until the weekend.

01:30 And there's falls estimated in parts of the Top End today of around 250 mils in isolated

01:37 areas.

01:38 That's prompted Chief Minister Eva Lawler to warn Territorians to be alert but not alarmed.

01:44 Here she was earlier today.

01:46 It's those clear messages that we have, and all of us in the Territory, about making sure

01:50 you have those cycling kits, all those emergency kits, so have you got your important papers

01:56 there, what have you got, your medications, those sorts of things.

01:59 So I think the people that are in that Kalkaringi area, I mean they experienced flooding last

02:04 year, they would be very much aware of what they need to do and being very heightened

02:09 around that.

02:13 And so Eva Lawler there saying that people are familiar with these kind of conditions.

02:17 We do typically get monsoons and huge dumps of rain across the Top End and again to have

02:22 preparations in place should things complicate, but at this stage no major evacuations underway,

02:28 so relatively stable here, Ros.

02:31 To Helena now in Sydney.

02:33 Helena, what's been happening in New South Wales over the past day?

02:36 Well Ros, over the past 24 hours the State Emergency Service has received over 700 calls

02:43 for help and responded to 460 of those, and that includes things like fallen trees, leaking

02:50 roofs and other storm-related damage.

02:53 At Ballina, three people had to be rescued after their vehicles got caught up in floodwaters.

02:58 At Castle Hill in Sydney, a large tree fell onto a home, causing significant damage.

03:04 As you can see, it's raining here in Sydney's east at the moment, but the State Emergency

03:08 Service is warning that it's really the state's north that needs to brace for some severe

03:12 weather today.

03:13 Up to 200mm of rain is expected in parts of the state's mid-north coast and northern rivers

03:20 region.

03:21 Most of it will be in the later afternoon and evening tonight, though people in those

03:26 areas are being warned to brace for flash flooding.

03:29 Now with the school holidays still going, the State Emergency Service is really emphasising

03:34 that people need to stay mindful of the fact that flash flooding occurs extremely quickly

03:39 and without warning.

03:40 So holidaymakers who are staying near rivers and lakes really need to be careful and keep

03:45 in mind if they really need to be staying in more low-lying areas.

03:49 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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