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A false story that actor Leonardo DiCaprio made a $13m ($US10m) donation to Ukraine was repeated this week by media outlets around the world and shared by tens of thousands of people on social media.

Articles and social media posts claimed that DiCaprio is connected to Ukraine because his late maternal grandmother was born in the Ukrainian city of Odessa.

Some of the articles claimed that DiCaprio's $13m ($US10m) donation was announced by an organisation called the International Visegrad Fund.

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DiCaprio did not make a $13m ($US10m) donation to Ukraine and does not have a family member from Odessa or anywhere else in Ukraine, a source close to the actor told CNN on Wednesday.

The source said that DiCaprio "stands with Ukraine" and has made Ukraine-related humanitarian donations to CARE, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children and the UN's refugee agency – but that the reported $13m ($US10m) sum is false, that claims of DiCaprio giving money to the Ukrainian government or to the Ukrainian military are also false, and that claims that DiCaprio has any "family ties" to Ukraine are false too.

The International Visegrad Fund told CNN on Wednesday that, contrary to the news reports, it did not announce a $13m ($US10m) DiCaprio donation to Ukraine and has no related information.

So how did this false story spread so far?

The saga of the nonexistent $13m ($US10m) donation is a case study in how bad information can bubble up from the online fringes to mainstream media outlets – with outlet after outlet, big and small alike, simply repeating the story without independently verifying it.

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A poorly sourced story

On Saturday, an obscure website called GSA News, which focuses on news about the South American country of Guyana, posted a short article claiming that "sources inside Ukraine" said that DiCaprio "has transferred ten million US dollars to the Ukrainian government."

It added that DiCaprio "has Ukrainian roots through his maternal grandmother."

GSA News founder Patrick Carpen stood behind the article on Wednesday afternoon, even after he was informed that the source close to DiCaprio had told CNN that its contents were false.

Mr Carpen said in an email to CNN, "I really trust my source inside Ukraine."

On Wednesday night, though, Mr Carpen called CNN to say "I apologise profoundly" for the false story, that he "had no bad intentions in publishing that article," and that he was going to post a retraction, which he later did.

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Mr Carpen explained that his primary source for DiCaprio's supposed $13m ($US10m) donation had been a Facebook post from a Ukrainian woman whose posts about the war with Russia have generally been accurate.

Mr Carpen said he had also seen other Ukrainians on Facebook posting about the supposed donation.

Since his Guyana website has a small readership, Mr Carpen said, he thought that if he published an article repeating the DiCaprio story and it turned out to be wrong, he could quietly delete the article within days.

"I thought that it wouldn't have a lot of consequences if it was false," he said.

Instead, he said he watched with surprise and dismay as the story "snowballed into everybody's news publications, some of them with millions of followers. And that kinds of worries me…that people would just take something at face value and just publish it."

He acknowledged, however, that he had himself taken a claim from Facebook posters at face value.

To Twitter, then another obscure website, then major outlets

Whether because of the GSA News article, because of Ukrainians' posts on Facebook or for some other reason, the story about DiCaprio started spreading more widely on Sunday.

A Twitter account called Visegrád 24, which tweets news updates focused on the Visegrad Group countries of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to more than 196,000 followers, posted a tweet – citing no sources – that claimed "Leonardo DiCaprio has donated 10 million USD to Ukraine. His maternal grandmother was a native of Odessa, Ukraine!"

Claims that DiCaprio's maternal grandmother Helene Indenbirken was born in Ukraine in general or Odessa in particular have circulated online for years.

However, these claims have never been attached to a solid source.

Ms Indenbirken died in 2008 in Germany, where she lived; it wasn't clear on Thursday where she was actually born, and the source close to DiCaprio wouldn't say.

More than 10,000 retweets

Regardless, the Visegrád 24 tweet was retweeted more than 10,000 times. It was deleted on Wednesday afternoon after CNN informed the account that the story about the $13m ($US10m) donation was false.

"It seems we fell prey to a fake story ourselves. Happens to the best of us!" a representative for the account said in a message to CNN on Wednesday.

So where did the account get its information?

"We saw the story tweeted by several small news accounts, citing an anonymous source," the representative said.

Major outlets pick up the story

On Monday, the day after the Visegrád 24 tweet was posted, the story really took off.

An article on another obscure website, "Polish News," reported that DiCaprio "allocated as much as USD 10 million to support Ukraine and did not plan to announce it to the whole world" – but that, on Sunday, the donation had been announced by the International Visegrad Fund, which is an international donor organisation created by the governments of the Visegrad Group countries.

Again, not true.

The public relations manager for the fund, Lucia Becová, said in a Wednesday email to CNN that the fund had made no such announcement.

It's possible that Polish News mixed up the International Visegrad Fund with the Visegrád 24 Twitter account.

By Wednesday, the Polish News article had been edited to remove the reference to the International Visegrad Fund – and the site did not express strong confidence in the rest of the story.

A Polish News representative, Artur Salamonczyk, said in a Wednesday email that if CNN is aware that DiCaprio didn't make the $10 million donation, "we are happy to remove the content."

By Thursday, it had deleted the article and published another article saying that reports about a $10 million donation from DiCaprio were incorrect.

By then, though, the horse was out of the barn.

News outlet after news outlet had cited Polish News as the primary source behind their stories that DiCaprio made a $10 million donation to Ukraine.

News stories about the $10 million donation were published by – among others – England's The Independent (which eventually amended its story) and The Daily Mail (which deleted its story), India's The Hindustan Times (whose story remained online as of Friday), the Czech Republic's Novinky (which eventually published a new story debunking its original), Euronews in France (which eventually amended its story), and, in the US, entertainment site ET Online (which deleted DiCaprio from its story on celebrities' Ukraine donations) and conservative political sites The Washington Examiner and The Daily Caller (both of which amended their stories).

CNN began looking into the supposed $10 million donation after Jane Lytvynenko, a senior research fellow at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, raised questions about the accuracy of the viral story on Twitter on Wednesday.

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New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has promised a new $25 million mental health support package for flood-affected regions while warning the current crisis is "not over".

Eight recovery centres have been established in the state's north to assist flood victims so far.

"Our top three priorities are cleanups, getting people into homes and getting financial assistance out the door," he said.

READ MORE: Aussies dip deep to raise over $25 million for flood victims

"We are working tirelessly to achieve that."

He added 1500 people were currently in emergency housing, with the state government working to ensure people had access to safe and secure homes.

"We want to do whatever we can to get as many people in housing as quickly as possible. It's a massive challenge," Mr Perrottet said.

"Whilst the task is significant, we are up to it."

Mass cleanups remain underway, assisted by thousands of Australian Defence Force personnel and local volunteers.

Over 4000 tonnes of debris are being collected every day in areas like the Northern Rivers.

Twenty-three evacuation orders affecting 3470 people remain in place and 1415 people are preparing to evacuate.

The premier warned residents not to be complacent, urging those in flood-impacted regions to heed warnings.

"My key message today is please follow these instructions," Mr Perrottet said.

"This event is not over."

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Premier commits $25 million to ongoing mental health support

A $25 million package has been announced to provide mental health support for flood-affected regions.

Mr Perrottet said healing from the current crisis would take months and years.

"It's very clear to me from spending time in emergency evacuation centres that more needs to be done not just right now, but for months and years to come," Mr Perrottet said.

"This has been, for many people, a very distressing and traumatic time … my message is we will get through it."

Funding will initially be delegated to communities deemed most in need.

Thousands of students wait to return to school

Thousands of students in New South Wales are waiting to return to the classroom after the state's flood crisis destroyed several schools.

Teachers at Richmond River High School in Lismore said every room had been inundated by floodwaters, leaving a mass of destruction in their wake.

"The damage to Richmond River High is significant – there's not a classroom that hasn't been inundated," the school's principal, Luke Woodward said.

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"The smell is next level through the school because of all the floodwater that's been through.

"We've lost literally all our teaching resources, we've lost things like our grand piano for our music students."

"There's so many memories that have been lost by staff and students – it's about the kids – not about the building."

Mr Woodward said the Australian Defence Force had been working to clear debris and rubbish from the facility in efforts to salvage the school.

"They are doing an incredible job," he said.

Works are now underway to accommodate the 500 to 1200 displaced students and teachers from Richmond River High School at Lismore High School, a sister campus of Rivers Secondary College.

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Rivers Secondary College Principal Chris Williams said students were still dealing with the destruction of their homes.

"It's just epic, unless you drive down the streets it's indescribable," Mr Williams said.

"Kids have not been doing any learning, half of our kids have been impacted and are out there ripping out the contents of their homes, combing through the mud and helping theidespite the difficultyr families to try and get things back to a sense of normality."

The Richmond River High School will be temporarily reestablished at a new, safe site.

Flood recovery ramped up in Hawkesbury region

Power remains out in the Hawkesbury regions of Lower Mangrove, Green Grove and Mangrove Creek.

Electricity is predicted to return to the Wiseman's Ferry community tomorrow, while the suburbs of Spencer and Marlow will remain without power for the next two days.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a $1 billion package to aid flood recovery, which included additional disaster payments and boosting military personnel on the ground.

The Australian Defence Force has stationed 4300 troops across the state to help with clean up efforts, half of which are stationed in the devastated Northern Rivers region.

In total, military support has increased to 7000 personnel across flood-affected Queensland and New South Wales.

Three Singaporean and ADF chinooks have landed to provide critical aid, like tents, blankets, meals and bottled water to residents.

Australian troops are currently distributing 33 pallets of disaster relief provided by the Singaporean Government.

The Federal Government has also announced a new payment for veterans left homeless by the floods, with a $3000 emergency payment boost and a $100 Coles voucher available for those affected.

Veteran's affairs minister David Elliott will visit Lismore on Thursday this week.

'Raging, unstoppable torrent of water'

Works are underway to clear Queensland's Brisbane River of dangerous debris following the state's historic flood event, as the river's port returns to 24/7 operation.

Queensland Treasurer and Investment Minister Cameron Dick said activity on the Brisbane River was a key contributor to the state's economy, with the recent flooding bringing activity to a stand-still.

"The wettest February we've seen in our state in 130 years," Mr Dick said.

"The Brisbane River itself turned into a raging, unstoppable torrent of water."

This week, two navy vessels and military divers worked to clear dangerous debris from the river, with clean-up efforts continuing.

"The Brisbane River itself remains a place of danger. We know there is danger lurking underneath the water of the Brisbane River," Mr Dick said.

He added activity on the river contributed $50 billion each year to the state's economy.

"The impact on our river and our local economy is significant. We need our ports to operate," Mr Dick said.

Uber is feeling the sting of record-high petrol prices and will roll out a temporary fuel surcharge on all trips in Australia.

In a statement, Uber Australia's Head of Driver Operations and Marketplace Emma Foley said the surcharge would be calculated per-kilometre and would last for 60 days.

Riders can expect to pay an extra 0.50c on an average trip, with drivers collecting 100 per cent of the surcharge.

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"While earnings on our platform remain elevated compared to historical trends, we've heard from driver-partner feedback that the recent sudden spike in petrol prices is having an impact," she said.

"To help, we're rolling out a temporary (60 day) fuel surcharge on all trips in Australia."

Petrol prices have skyrocketed to record-breaking amounts over the past week, with U91 seen as high as $2.29 a litre in Victoria.

The petrol price pinch comes as oil prices surge in the wake of Russia's invasion on Ukraine.

Ms Foley said the surcharge would help ease the burden of fuel cost on its drivers.

A flood devastated artist from Lismore has opened a 'La Nina' themed exhibition in the NSW Southern Highlands, showcasing the only items she has left to her name, after becoming a victim of the exact weather system she spent months painting.

Lucy Vader lost everything – except her artwork and dog – in the worst floods to hit Lismore in history.

"I feel like the weather has mocked me … I've always loved rain and I paint whatever weather system we're in at the time," Ms Vader told 9News.

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"As we've been through the La Nina systems, which are now back-to-back, I've been painting fertile (lands), wet sky … abundant landscapes with potential and possibility."

Footage of Ms Vader begging to be rescued from her roof was going viral on social media, at the same time her Northern Rivers home was going under on February 28.

"The weather came to kill me and came to kill many others," Ms Vader told 9News.

"As I was sitting on the roof I was thinking, 'Yeah, I like painting the weather but, this is a bit much … I don't like the rain this much."

She had three priorities as the "absolute Armageddon catastrophe" hit – her Border Collie 'Dotty', her exhibition and her own life.

"I'd been working on my art exhibition over the last few months and there was just one possibility of saving one thing in my house and losing everything else … which was to stack my exhibition on a table, that became a boat … and the table floated up to the ceiling," Ms Vader said.

READ MORE: 'It's all gone': The human toll of devastating floods

As waters rose inside her North Lismore home, she farewelled her paintings and beloved dog and fled to the roof, where she spent eight hours waiting to be rescued.

"I knew that I would drown if I didn't get on the roof," she said.

"I said goodbye to my dog, goodbye to my paintings and got onto the roof crying and trying to get through to the SES.

"It was a long period of thinking 'am I going to die today?"

Ms Vader was eventually rescued by an anonymous kayaker, who'd already saved multiple locals from the floodwaters.

"Over the three days that I waited for the flood to go down, I had to just hope that I had an exhibition still, even though I knew I would have lost everything else."

Upon returning home, the artist discovered her art was the only thing salvageable.

"Untouched paintings, just floating above the water … gave me so much hope and it gave me something to live for, something to not fall into a pit of despair.

"It meant I had a life raft to cling to," Ms Vader said.

Despite advice from loved ones to abandon the exhibition and focus on rebuilding, she packed her paintings into a friend's van and travelled to the Southern Highlands, to hang her art in Michael Reid's gallery in Berrima, as planned.

"She is so focused and professional, and that is partly why she is so successful," Michael Reid said.

The money Ms Vader makes from selling the paintings will go towards art tools, a new studio and a new start to life.

"I'm starting to accept the loss and starting to think about rebuilding, designing, possibilities, hope and helping others," she said.

"I hope that (visitors) will feel some of the journey that the paintings have been on … (the paintings) have been on their own journey now, they are a moment of Australia's most significant environmental catastrophe in modern memory."

In coming weeks, she will begin preparing for her next exhibitions in Europe and Sydney, which will open later this year.

"I don't see myself painting floods, but I see the experience as galvanising something quite deep creatively inside me … deep, strong, sometimes sad emotions can funnel into works that make them more powerful, even if they're an uplifting work," she said.

Her current exhibition will run until March 27.

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