Tag Archives: oceania

Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) manager for hazard preparedness and response Diana Eadie said in a press conference this afternoon that warnings were issued appropriately but flash flooding events are difficult to predict.

Cars were swept away when the Cumberland River flooded near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

The BoM warned of severe thunderstorms with heavy rain focused over Gippsland earlier this week, as well as the risk of rain over the Otway Ranges.

Then Mt Cowley in Lorne recorded 45mm of rain in one hour yesterday morning.

Within an hour, the BoM had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding, which was soon escalated to include the Surf Coast.

What followed was a downpour of 180mm of rain in less than five hours that caused flash flooding in Wye River, Kennett River, Cumberland River and Lorne.

The rainfall broke records in some areas.

Holidaymakers and locals fled to higher ground where they watched the traumatic scenes unfold.

Roads flooded, cars and caravans were swept away, and at least one person had to be rescued from a roof.

The immediate flash flooding threat has passed but clean-up efforts will likely drag on for days.

Cars were swept away when the Cumberland River flooded near the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

Professor Andrew Western, chair of hydrology and water resources at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, said he wasn't surprised that warnings for the flash flooding came so last-minute.

"First of all, rainfall predictions are really hard, especially the sort of events that led to these floods," he told 9news.com.au.

"These were really big rainfall events, like we're talking somewhere vaguely in the one in 100-year probability levels … so predicting that size rainfall event is super hard."

The second contributing factor was that the downpour fell over small catchments in the Otways, which tend to respond rapidly to brief, intense rainfall.

Where larger rural catchments can handle longer periods of rain before flooding, small catchments can spill over in a matter of hours during intense rainfall.

That makes it difficult for the BoM or emergency services to predict flash flooding in small catchment areas ahead of time.

Cars underwater in Wye River flooding

Eadie said much the same today.

"With small catchments, you tend to get very little warning," Western said.

And that can be deadly.

In 2011 the tiny town of Grantham, in Queensland's Lockyer Valley, was hit by a sudden and devastating flash flood that claimed 12 lives.

There were no reported deaths from the flooding in Victoria yesterday and dramatic flood events like it remain relatively rare in Australia.

But global warming could change that.

Climate change has made Australia's weather more volatile and contributed to extreme weather events on both ends of the spectrum, from cyclones to bushfires, which often occur in quick succession.

Earlier this month, Central Queensland was ravaged by ex-cyclone Koji, which left entire towns underwater.

Meanwhile, 10 major bushfires are still burning in parts of Victoria, where horror blazes have damaged or destroyed more than 1000 structures, including almost 300 homes.

Bushfire in Euroa in Victoria

These extreme weather events are becoming more common, making it harder for forecasters to accurately predict what will come next when Australia's weather no longer behaves the way it did in the past.

For the time being, Western encouraged all Australians to research their local flood risk and what to do in an emergency situation.

"Flood events are things that only happen occasionally, so they tend to be a surprise to people because people are not very informed about their local risks," he said.

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Iconic Australian retailer shutting down

2026-01-16 FreeNews

Australian-owned clothing brand Fletcher Jones is closing all of its remaining physical stores and online business, according to its website, in the latest blow to the nation's struggling retail sector.

The business, which was once a shining star in Victoria's clothing industry, was forced to axe some of its stores and staff after it first went into administration 15 years ago.

After a slow decline, the business announced to customers on its website the remainder of its outlets would close.

After a slow decline, Fletcher Jones announced to customers on its website the remainder of its outlets would close.

The business first started in 1924 when founder David Fletcher Jones began selling textiles in Warrnambool, Victoria.

The company opened retail stores in the 1930s and 1940s with a range of men's suits and trousers.

Iconic Melbourne retailer Fletcher Jones is closing down all of its remaining stores and online website.

During this time, the company manufactured most of its garments from a growing workforce of tailors.

Years later in the 1947, the company purchased a large plot of land in Warrnambool and built a garment factory on it.

The company's golden years began in 1970s and 1980s when stores expanded across Australia

The business also had manufacturing centres in Warrnambool and Mount Gambier in South Australia, both of which employed about 3000 people.

The company is the latest in a string of retailers to close their doors as tough trading conditions continue.

Cult Australian designer clothing brand Sass & Bide announced the business would shut down all its physical and online stores within weeks.

Nine.com.au has contacted Fletcher Jones for comment.

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Billions thrown at preventing debris balls from washing up on Sydney beaches

2026-01-16 FreeNews

Sydney's wastewater system will be upgraded under a $3 billion plan following an investigation into debris balls that washed up at its most iconic beaches.

The Malabar Wastewater Treatment System was identified as the likely source of the mysterious balls that turned up at beaches across Sydney, the South Coast and the Central Coast in late 2024 and early 2025.

The site is one of the largest wastewater systems in the country, servicing almost two million people in the city's south-west, including Fairfield, Campbelltown and Liverpool.

Debris balls have washed up on several NSW beaches again, but authorities are unsure whether they are related to the ones that were previously found along dozens of Sydney beaches.

Water Minister Rose Jackson said "no one" wants to see debris balls wash up on the coastline as she announced the state would invest $3 billion over 10 years to reduce the amount of wastewater that needs to be discharged through the deep ocean outfall in Malabar.

It is hoped this would prevent the debris balls from forming again, but also keep up with the growing population in the city's south-west.

Sydney Water will work with Malabar System Alliance to deliver major upgrades to the Glenfield and Liverpool facilities.

The staged upgrades will treat key facilities in the system, including the water resource facilities at Glenfield, Liverpool and Fairfield.

For the first stage, Sydney Water will work with Malabar System Alliance to deliver major upgrades to the Glenfield and Liverpool facilities.

Jackson said the staged upgrades mean that the projects will be funded over time, so Sydneysiders are not met with a "sudden bill shock".

In the meantime, Sydney Water is continuing to work with the NSW Environment Protection Authority on preventing more debris ball incidents.

The agency has also increased cleaning and inspections and is expanding an education campaign on fats, oils and grease to reduce the material from entering the wastewater network.

"We understand the seriousness of recent debris ball incidents and the need to ensure our network is equipped for Sydney's growing population," Sydney Water chief executive Darren Cleary said.

"This program of works is a clear demonstration of our commitment to building a more resilient system over the coming decade and to protecting our beaches, which are so important to Sydney's way of life."

The mysterious balls first appeared ashore in Coogee, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, in October 2024, before an onslaught of the greasy debris turned up along the coastline.

Beaches had to be closed as crews collected samples for testing and cleaned up the shore.

Several more incidents of balls washing up on beaches continued until early last year.

Sample testing and investigations found debris was made up of fats, oils and greases with the sewage treatment network as the likely source.

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Police officer faces court accused of raping woman while off-duty

2026-01-16 FreeNews

A senior constable charged with rape while off-duty will fight three sex offences at a contested hearing.

Carl Jones, 33, was working in Victoria Police's western region when he allegedly raped a woman in 2024.

He was off-duty at the time of the alleged incident and was charged in October last year.

The officer faced Melbourne Magistrates Court today supported by his pregnant wife and will contest all charges against him.

Jones is charged with three offences regarding non-consensual sex acts he performed on an alleged victim on November 30, 2024, at Armstrong Creek in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne.

Two of the charges are rape and the third is performing oral sex without consent, court documents reveal.

His barrister David Cronin successfully applied to cross-examine seven witnesses at a committal hearing which will begin in May.

He told the court Jones' wife was due to give birth in March and asked for his client to be able to appear via videolink at any special mention hearings before May.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge approved remote link access, but noted accused offenders ought be in person at court for "significant matters" such as this one.

He extended Jones' bail as he set down one-and-a-half days for a contested hearing starting on May 18.
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