Overview

• Five fatalities have been confirmed, including a man in his 80s found at a flooded property near Taree, one of the worst-hit towns.
• Floodwaters are receding, but 32,000 people remain isolated in over a dozen towns, with emergency services delivering supplies by air, land, and water.
• An estimated 10,000 properties have been damaged, and over 480 damage assessments have been conducted so far by emergency crews.
• The Australian and New South Wales governments are providing financial aid, including hardship grants and recovery funding for local councils.
• Experts emphasize the need for improved flood mitigation and resilience planning, citing climate change as a driver of increasingly severe weather events.