Two people have died in crashes on the roads this long weekend. One person has died following a serious crash in the Wellington region earlier today. Emergency services were called to the High St collision in Taita, Lower Hutt,…

An emergency alert has been issued for Brisbane as severe storms are set to hit Queensland.

Residents in the Brisbane City Council area have been warned of heavy rainfall and the possibility of severe thunderstorms that could result in dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding within the next 12 to 48 hours.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the city could see up to 150mm of rain fall.

READ MORE: Weekend of worrying weather across Australia, with three states in the firing line

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services is asking residents in this area to prepare their homes, warn their neighbours and take care when driving.

Much of Australia's east coast, including south-east Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania is experiencing widespread rain, with multiple evacuation orders in place across Victoria and NSW as rivers break their banks.

NSW Emergency Minister Steph Cooke has warned the floods inundating Northern NSW town Moree will be record-breaking.

Residents can find the latest emergency alerts through the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and weather warnings are on the Bureau of Meteorology website.

God of War Ragnarok is right around the corner.

Impressions of the game's first five hours are starting to release online and, having played through that much myself, it's good. Like, really good.

PlayStation's biggest title of 2022 comes out the gate swinging with battle after battle.

The game's director Eric Williams has told 9news.com.au that was a very deliberate decision.

"We wanted the first hour to be almost like you got your money's worth," says Williams.

"The rest of the game now is just more (of that), right? Let's go!"

"You're bought in at that point in time and I think good films do that. They get you in the first 10 minutes."

"We've looked at a lot of media that we appreciate – that we love – and tried to pace it out in a way that we felt like was like we can teach you the axe, we can teach you the blades, we can get the big moments and you're like OK, I'm into this story."

Years have passed since Kratos scattered the ashes of his wife on the highest peak of the realm.

Their son Atreus is older, more capable and more curious than ever.

Freya continues to hunt you, seeking revenge over the death of her son, Baldur.

And we know the God of Thunder is coming for Kratos after he killed Thor's sons.

It's a lot to set up – and pay off – in one big finale.

And Williams says they took notes on how Marvel handled Avengers Infinity War and Endgame.

"Endgame almost made twice as much money. That's almost impossible to understand."

"Did these people just go see this movie and not watch the previous one? They did."

"So we're thinking the same thing is gonna happen. We're gonna have a lot of people that are going to come to this game and not have played the other games. So how do you onboard them, but also pay respect to your fans that did and have that big experience from 2018?"

"That, I think, was the most difficult thing."

"How do you thread all that at the beginning? And that's why we have the recap."

As good as trailers made the game look, God of War Ragnarok is just as stunning to play.

On PS5, you have the option of fidelity or performance modes.

I picked performance and haven't looked back.

There is zero slowdown and the transition from combat to exploration to cutscene is as seamless as it was in 2018.

PlayStation fans who haven't had the chance to pick up a PS5 will still have the option of playing on PS4, which Eric – whose last two play throughs were on last generation's hardware – says is "every bit as good."

"We put all of the care into making sure all of our fans from the previous (generation) that haven't been able to upgrade due the supply chains or cost or whatever can still finish this story with us.

"But those that have moved on (to PS5) also get a stunning experience and we try to cover all the things with the DualSense and 3D Audio and all of those pieces that the PS5 has to offer."

"(While) also trying not to set a PS4 on fire," Eric laughs.

Williams says the game on PS4 is "pushing (the console) to its absolute brink".

"I don't count any chickens until they hatch."

"When the ninth (of November) rolls around we'll be happy, but you know, we're excited."

God of War Ragnarök launches on PS4 and PS5 on November 9, 2022.

PlayStation provided 9news.com.au with early access to the game for the purpose of this preview. 

You can watch Mark's full video interview with Eric Williams above.

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Residents in northern New South Wales and along the Victorian border are seeing the impacts of the dangerous weather system bearing down on Australia's east coast as rivers break their banks.

Multiple evacuation orders are in place across the two states but fears for Echuca in northern Victoria, Moama in southern NSW, and Moree in northern NSW are at a high.

Around 4000 people have been told to leave their homes in Moree.

READ MORE: Weekend forecast: Widespread rain and thunderstorms for four states

The NSW SES said major flood levels have been reached on the Mehi and Gwydir rivers.

NSW Emergency Minister Steph Cooke warned the floods inundating Moree will be record-breaking.

"In Moree, a second peak will come through the community and will come very close to the February 1955 level and even if it doesn't it will be significant flooding through that region," she said.

"Moree has two flood peaks, the first is there now and the level is higher than the March 2021 level and the second flood peak is expected to be higher again, somewhere between last year and the levels seen in 1955 which is the highest we have on record," meteorologist Jane Golding said.

Evacuation centres have been set up at the Moree PCYC on Boston Street.

https://twitter.com/NSWSES/status/1583381782577442816

NSW Northern Rivers receive renewed flood warning

Cooke has delivered devastating news for flood-weary residents in northern NSW as Lismore is expected to see rising floodwaters again.

"The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting potentially major flooding at Lismore," she said.

Golding said the low-pressure system off the coast of south-east Queensland will bring heavy rainfall to the Northern Rivers.

"We are expecting a significant rain event to effect the Northern Rivers tomorrow and flooding following tomorrow and Monday," she said.

Golding warned there will be rainfall totals of above 150mm which will bring life-threatening flash flooding over the coming days.

Cooke said there isn't a "single part" of NSW that emergency services aren't concerned about.

Floodwaters finally hit NSW-Victoria border towns 

Meanwhile on the NSW and Victoria border, an evacuation order has been issued for Echuca as the Murray River finally breaks its banks.

"The Murray River is at 94.77 metres AHD as it continues to rise and is expected to reach 95 to 95.2 metres AHD Sunday into Monday," VICSES Chief Operations Officer Tim Wiebusch said.

"If you don't wish to be isolated our strongest message is evacuate now," Wiebusch said.

Barmah near Echuca has also been told it is too late to leave as days of flood warnings come to fruition for exhausted residents.

At Moama on the NSW side of the border, Cooke warned floodwaters will peak on Tuesday.

"The latest and best advice is the river will peak on Tuesday and is likely to see exceed 1993 levels," Cooke said.

The Murray River Council mayor Chris Bilkey said earlier the region is hoping the river doesn't rise much more.

"The river has come up three, four or five inches overnight but we're confident the levee bank around the town is going to survive," Bilkey said.

"We're buckling down for another week of really high water here."

There are concerns for towns downstream along the Murray River in the coming days as floodwaters continue to plague the two states.

"We will see those waters flow downstream in the coming days where we will see major flooding," Wiebusch said.

Kerang, in northern Victoria, has been told it's too late to leave as floodwaters inundate the town.

Wiebusch said the Loddon River is currently at 74 metres AHD and is expected to peak today at 78 metres AHD.

"Kerang is largely isolated at the moment with one road out, it is expected to close as we reach the peak today," he said.

READ MORE: Medibank CEO apologises for cyber attack

https://twitter.com/vicemergency/status/1583624895313117184

In NSW, more than 400 calls for help were received overnight while 21 flood rescues were carried out.

While in Victoria, there were 70 calls for help overnight and several flood rescues.

Residents are advised to keep across BoM's warnings as the system bears down. NSW warnings can be viewed here, Victoria here, and Queensland here. 

Australia's biggest companies could be slammed with massive fines if they are subject to a major cyber attack or repeatedly hacked under proposed federal government legislation.

The Albanese government is set to introduce new legislation which would slap companies $50 million for multiple breaches of the Privacy Act, meaning if the company is hit by several serious data breaches.

Penalties could be even larger depending on company turnover and the estimated value of the stolen data.

READ MORE: Medibank CEO apologises for cyber attack

It comes after multiple companies have been hit by major hacks in recent weeks, including 2.1 million Australians having their data exposed in the Optus cyber attack and the unfolding Medibank incident where private medical information is being held to ransom.

Attorney-general Mark Dreyfus warned companies could be subject to "hundreds and millions of dollars" in penalties if there are serious or repeated hacks.

Dreyfus said serious data breaches are determined by "how many people are affected, how serious the information leaked is, what the consequence of the breach are, how reckless the company was".

https://twitter.com/MarkDreyfusKCMP/status/1583563025490972672

He said Australia needs better laws to protect citizens who hand over large amounts of personal data to companies and trust it will be kept safe.

"When Australians are asked to hand over their personal data they have a right to expect it will be protected," he said.

"Unfortunately, significant privacy breaches in recent weeks have shown existing safeguards are inadequate. It's not enough for a penalty for a major data breach to be seen as the cost of doing business.

"We need better laws to regulate how companies manage the huge amount of data they collect, and bigger penalties to incentivise better behaviour."

READ MORE: Evacuate now order for major flooding in North Moree

Dreyfus added the new legislation is designed to make big companies think about data protection and act on cyber security.

"It's designed to make companies think, it's designed to be a deterrent so companies do protect the data of Australians," he said.

The maximum current penalty is $2.22 million for multiple serious data breaches.

The bill will be presented to parliament next week.

Dreyfus also flagged further reforms to the Privacy Act after a review into the legislation which is due by the end of the year.

"I look forward to support from across the Parliament for this Bill, which is an essential part of the Government's agenda to ensure Australia's privacy framework is able to respond to new challenges in the digital era," he said.

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