Daily wrap

31,600ML of water were released from Burrinjuck Dam in the past 24 hours. 

Blowering Dam spilled about 11.30am on Thursday. WaterNSW announced a plan to release 15,500ML per day from the dam, resulting in a total of 60,000ML per day flowing past Gundagai.

The Sturt Highway was closed to light vehicles near Narrandera on Thursday. The Roads and Maritime Service announced heavy vehicles and four-wheel drives could still use the highway, but not four-wheel drives towing trailers. Vehicles will be detoured via Coolamon Road and Canola Way between Wagga and Narrandera.

SES incident controller Graeme Craig warned people should not drive onto levee banks as it could cause them to fail. He also said some people were continuing the “stupid” behaviour of driving into floodwater.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts no chance of rain for Wagga on Friday.

4pm:

Murrumbidgee Region SES incident controller Graeme Craig said yesterday’s incident at Cootamundra was a chilling reminder of the sheer force of floodwater.

“People don’t get the power of floodwater,” Mr Craig said.

“The dam burst blasted the ballast out from under the rails, that engine is being held up solely by the strength of the track.

“You can’t stop floodwater, if it’s coming and running there’s nothing you can do to stop it, the safest course of action is to stay away.”

Mr Craig said the water caused some flooding around the town and a lucky motorist barely escaped the surge.

“It was disappointing to see a car drove into floodwater past a marker that showed 80cm of water on the road and it was washed away,” he said.

“Maybe the driver didn’t understand the rapid rise coming behind the way.

“Luckily they rescued themselves and left the scene but the car was totally destroyed by the volume and speed of the water.”

Mr Craig repeated his earlier message that driving into floodwater was “stupid”.

“If traffic controls are in place then the road is open and authorities and managing the control conditions,” he said.

“However, it’s never an excuse to drive through floodwater just because the motorist in front of you did, you can’t just assume it’s safe because all cars have different capabilities and float points, but that car might have damaged the road and you could drive into a hole.

“Don’t drive through floodwater, find another way – you don’t know the condition of the road under the water and you don’t want to risk your life to save a few minutes.”

A ute also crashed into a dam at Cootamundra overnight.

3.30pm:

Murrumbidgee Region SES incident controller Graeme Craig said a series of meetings had been held between emergency services, WaterNSW and emergency management committees about the release of water from Blowering and Burrinjuck Dams.

The amount of water being released from Blowering Dam is not expected to raise the river level at Tumut beyond minor flood level with the intention of keeping the caravan park operating until at least October 20.

Once the water gets to Gundagai, water released from Burrinjuck will join the water from Blowering and about 60GL per day will pass the flood gauge, a slight increase over the 58GL that went by in the past 24 hours. Downstream the Murrumbidgee River is expected to drop and return to between 8.0 and 8.2 metres at Wagga. 

Narrandera will maintain a moderate flood level, but it is expected to be below the peak that closed the Sturt Highway to light vehicles today.

The goal is to empty as much water as possible out of the dams to create airspace for future rain event while minimising the impact on communities.

“We thank the people in these communities for their understanding and tolerance whilst vital emergency spills and undertaken to ensure control is maintained over flood levels,” Mr Craig said.

However, Mr Craig once again warned people against engaging in “stupid” behaviour.

“We’ve already seen unbelievably stupid behaviour with people driving into floodwater and then behaviour of an even more ridiculous nature emerged by some elements of the community in Wagga,” Mr Craig said.

“Some people have seen it appropriate to interfere with pumps that are there to evacuate water from inside levees back into the river, including turning off pumps, disconnecting various parts of pumps and siphoning fuel.

“In addition, others have seen fit to drive vehicles onto levee banks – this holds the real risk of damaging the levee and its structural integrity. It’s dangerous not just to the individual but also to the communities protected by the levees.

“The most important thing for the protection of the Wagga community is for people to immediately cease driving on the levee and leave the pumps alone – they’re being managed by council officials in the best interests of people effected by floods.”

3pm: 

The Roads and Maritime Service has announced heavy vehicles and four-wheel drives can still use the Sturt Highway near Narrandera, but it is closed to light vehicles and four-wheel drives towing trailers.

Vehicles will be detoured via Coolamon Road and Canola Way between Wagga and Narrandera.

2.30pm:

Blowering Dam started spilling about 11.30am today, according to the Gundagai Floods Facebook page.

WaterNSW released a statement saying with Blowering and Burrinjuck dams at full capacity, it was “making releases to reduce storage levels in preparation for the next rain event, to capture inflows and minimise downstream flooding impacts”.

“In consultation with the Snowy Valleys Regional Council and the NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES), WaterNSW will increase releases from Blowering Dam today to target a flow of 15.5 gigalitres per day (GL/day) at Tumut overnight,” the statement said.

“WaterNSW will work with the NSW SES to monitor local impacts as dam releases increase with a target flow rate less than 20GL/day at Tumut by the weekend.”

At 9am this morning Blowering’s storage was at 99.9 per cent of capacity. Burrinjuck Dam is at 104 per cent of capacity and is releasing at a rate of almost 31GL/day.

“Operations at both dams will be co-ordinated to as not to exceed a target flow rate at Gundagai of 60GL/day,” the statement said.

WaterNSW chief executive officer David Harris said the agency was continuing the strategy of releasing when rivers downstream had peaked and there was no rainfall forecast for the immediate future.

“Reducing the water level in Blowering and Burrinjuck will create capacity so that upstream inflows from the next rain event can be captured and held back to minimise flood impacts to downstream communities and landholders,” Mr Harris said.

“Our highly experienced flood operations team and personnel at the dam sites have worked hard to manage the situation during unrelenting winter and spring rainfall and regular flood events downstream.”

Blowering’s all-time record storage was 1,691,035ML on December 11, 2010. The highest release volume was also recorded on that day, 17,690ML was sent downstream in December 2010. 

At 9am today the dam had 1,629,301ML of water in it.

12.30pm:

SES spokesman James Morris warned people were continuing to drive onto levee banks to look at the flooding, which was potentially quite dangerous.

“They’re doing damage slowly,” Mr Morris said.

“We’re warning people the levees are there to keep water out and save lives, the more damage done the more likely they’ll burst their banks and a large amount of water will spill.”

However, the organisation was taking advantage of the fine weather to rest its crews after weeks of flooding in the area.

“They’re getting a much-needed rest in the middle of this ongoing operation,” Mr Morris said.

“We’re resting our crews and they’re only out when needed.”

The main concern for the SES today was the release of water from Burrinjuck and Blowering Dams, Mr Morris said.

12pm

The Transport Management Centre has confirmed the Sturt Highway will be closed to light vehicles near Narrandera from about 1pm today.

The closure means cars will be unable to use the highway to travel between Wagga and Narrandera. Motorists will need to travel via Coolamon if they’re heading to Narrandera or Leeton.

Floodwater had previously closed the Newell Highway just south of the town and now it has affected the Riverina’s main east-west highway.

10.50am:

The Bureau of Meterology issued the following update a few minutes ago:

The Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai peaked at 7.2 metres at 5am, with minor flooding.

Planned releases from Blowering Dam are expected to cause minor flooding along the Tumut River at Tumut on Friday morning. These releases are expected to prolong the flooding at Gundagai and Wagga Wagga but renewed rises are not expected.

Moderate flooding continues along the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera and minor flooding is occurring at Darlington Point and Carrathool.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay.

Predicted River Heights/Flows:

Tumut

Narrandera

Darlington Point

Carrathool

Hay Town

10am: 

A train remains stranded near Cootamundra, after a run-off dam burst yesterday afternoon, sending water spilling across paddocks. 

9.30am:

A report is being prepared for the coroner after search teams recovered the body of missing man Robert Linnane near Ungarie.

9am:

Burrinjuck Dam is at 104 at per cent and rising

Blowering Dam is at 100 at per cent and rising

Murrumbidgee River (Wagga): 8.569 metres and rising

Murrumbidgee River (Gundagai): 7.248 metres and rising

Tumut River (Tumut): 1.083 metres and falling

30,779ML of water were released from Burrinjuck Dam in the past 24 hours. 

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts no chance of rain for Wagga today.

5.10pm:

Here’s the latest flood warning from the BOM:

Minor flooding is occurring along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai and Wagga.

Moderate flooding continues along the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera and minor flooding is current at Darlington Point and Carrathool.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay.

Predicted river heights/flows

Gundagai

- peak near 7.1 metres Wednesday night with minor flooding

Narrandera

- peak near 7.9 metres around Friday with moderate flooding

Darlington Point

- peak near 6.8 metres around Tuesday with minor flooding

Hay

- currently peaking near 8.2 metres with major flooding

- a second flood peak is expected for the third week of October

Balranald

- remain below minor flood level

Latest river heights

Murrumbidgee R at Mt Macdonald 2.27m falling (1pm Wednesday) 

Tumut R at Tumut 1.28m falling (4pm Wednesday) 

Murrumbidgee R at Gundagai 7.02m rising (4pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Eringoarrah 7.68m rising (4pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Wagga Wagga 8.64m falling (4pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Narrandera 7.75m rising (4pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R Gogeldrie Weir 7.03m steady (3.45pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Darlington Point 6.68m steady (4pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Carrathool 7.47m rising (4pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Hay Weir 9.45m steady (3.45pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Maude Weir 7.01m steady (3.45pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Redbank Weir 5.75m steady (3.45pm Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Balranald Weir 5.74m steady (4pm Wednesday)

3pm:

The storm that swept through the region caused power outages and damage throughout the Riverina – Cootamundra felt the brunt of the weather.

The flooded Murrumbidgee also means some unwelcome guests are getting about.

Crop losses equating to $680 million could be felt throughout NSW following flooding, according to estimates.

11.45am:

NSW Ambulance Special Operation Team paramedics and Volunteer Rescue Association volunteers relocated a family from their residence on Tuesday afternoon.

Here’s the latest flood warning from the BOM:

Minor flooding is occurring along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai and Wagga.

Moderate flooding continues along the Murrumbidgee River at Narrandera and minor flooding is current at Darlington Point and Carrathool.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay.

Predicted river heights/flows

Gundagai

- reach 7.1 metres Wednesday evening with minor flooding

Narrandera

- peak near 7.9 metres around Friday with moderate flooding

Darlington Point

- peak near 6.8 metres around Tuesday with minor flooding

Hay

- currently peaking near 8.2 metres with major flooding

- a second flood peak is expected for the third week of October

Balranald

- remain below minor flood level

Latest river heights

Murrumbidgee R at Mt Macdonald 2.33m falling (8.30am Wednesday) 

Tumut R at Tumut 1.47m steady (9.20am Wednesday) 

Murrumbidgee R at Gundagai 6.95m steady (9.40am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Eringoarrah 7.66m steady (9am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Wagga Wagga 8.74m steady (9.45am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Narrandera 7.73m steady (9.40am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R Gogeldrie Weir 7.03m steady (8.45am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Darlington Point 6.68m steady (9.45am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Carrathool 7.47m rising (9.15am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Hay Weir 9.46m steady (8.45am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Maude Weir 7.01m steady (9.15am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R at Redbank Weir 5.75m steady (8.45am Wednesday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Balranald Weir 5.74m steady (9.45am Wednesday)

5.45pm:

SES Incident Controller Graeme Craig is ‘livid’ after this morning’s “completely avoidable” flood rescue.

5.30pm:

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has called for a national debate on flood mitigation.

Member for Riverina Michael McCormack said he welcomed Mr Shorten’s entry to the discussion on flood mitigation, but hoped it wasn’t just a political stunt.

“I hope he’s including dams, Labor’s never had a dams policy in recent years and in times such as these it would be great to have more water storages to have that insurance against floods while at same protecting the precious resource of water,” Mr McCormack said.

“Anything to store more water would be great news to my ears, the Murrumbidgee and Coleambally irrigators at the end of the river still mean a lot to me, it’s the food bowl of the nation.

“I look forward to Labor putting forward a plan for real funding to that going forward.”

However, Mr McCormack pointed out dams weren’t a silver bullet for flooding.

“Water storages don’t always save you from floods, there’s a lot of water that’s spilled from many places and done damage across the region,” he said.

“The only party with a dams policy is the Coalition, water storages need to be built along the river but there are geological, environmental and engineering concerns to be looked at.”

5pm: 

Flood status as of 5pm on Tuesday, October 4.

Burrinjuck 103 at per cent and rising

Blowering 97 at per cent and rising

Murrumbidgee: 8.9 metres and steady at Wagga

13,259ML of water were released from Burrinjuck Dam in the past 24 hours. 

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted only a slight chance of rain for Wagga on Wednesday.

10.40am:

Check out this video of floodwater over Eunony Bridge that was posted to Facebook.

10.25am:

Police have confirmed a sunken boat belonged to the man who went missing at Lake Cowal.

10am:

A Bureau of Meteorology hydrologist has explained why you can’t simply predict how much rain is needed to raise the river at Wagga.

“One cannot directly relate amount of rainfall to river rises,” she said.

“There is much more complexity than that in catchment and river response.

“Other factors include location, timing and intensity of rainfall, antecedent condition of the catchment (more or less wet) and river levels (more or less high), among others.

“We take into account all these complex mechanisms when running our models or using other forecasting technics.  

“We are monitoring and updating regularly our prediction for the river response at Wagga and will keep warning the public and emergency services through the issue of flood warnings.

“With the current and forecast rainfall for this week, we are not anticipating a higher peak than the one already warned for in our latest flood warning (8.9 metres at Wagga).

“The latest observations confirm our predictions.”

9am:

SES, police and the VRA have rescued a person who drove through two sets of “road closed” signs and multiple barrier boards this morning.

More to come.

8am:

17,608ML of water were released from Burrinjuck Dam in the past 24 hours.

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted up to 20mm of rain for Wagga today.

Don’t forget to check out our MEGA GALLERY of flood photos from the past month.

5pm:

Flood status as of 5pm on Monday, October 3.

17,608ML of water were released from Burrinjuck Dam in the past 24 hours.

The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted up to 20mm of rain for Wagga on Tuesday.

Roads are closed throughout the Riverina, with flooding near Forbes causing massive disruptions to inland travellers and heavy vehicles on the Newell Highway. The Burley Griffin Way is affected at several points between Harden and Griffith. 

The Sturt Highway between Narrandera and Wagga is subject to alternating traffic.

The Murrumbidgee River has had a fourth minor flood peak at Wagga.

4.30pm:

Police are continuing to search for a man who went missing near Ungarie on Saturday.

4pm:

North Wagga residents are keeping a watchful eye on the Murrumbidgee River, but it’s unlikely the suburb will see a repeat of 2012’s devastating floods.

Eunony Bridge Road, Byrnes Road and the western end of Gardiner Street have been inundated and while residents weren’t greatly impacted, the closures forced heavy vehicles to use the Olympic Highway to access Bomen.

The Murrumbidgee Regional Headquarters of the State Emergency Service (SES) was trying to give volunteers a bit of a rest after a fourth flood peak passed Wagga on Monday, where the river had been in minor flood for about a month.

SES incident controller Graeme Craig said he didn’t expect to see the river rise any higher this week.

“The river appears to have peaked,” Mr Craig said.

“It was a little up from overnight rains but has started to show signs of a downward trend again.”

The Murrumbidgee River peaked at 8.88 metres on Sunday night.

“The overnight rain gave it a bit of a top-up, we saw about 15-20mm fall in the catchment,” Mr Craig said.

“There’s a small amount of rain forecast for this afternoon and there could be up to 20mm tomorrow, which could see the river negate the falling level, but we’re not expected to reach the nine-metre trigger.”

North Wagga resident Michelle Jackson said she was optimistic the suburb would be safe, but still kept a close eye on the weather.

“The river’s been up and down, I keep an eye on the river levels but generally we just go about life as normal,” Ms Jackson said.

“It’s not the rain in Wagga we need to worry about, it’s the rain higher in the catchment around Tumbarumba, Batlow and Gundagai that are a concern.”

Ms Jackson said she thought people living outside the North Wagga levee were getting “a bit nervous”, but everyone else was adapting to life alongside a high river.

The rolling flood peaks have impacted towns along the river and peaks are expected to reach Darlington Point and Hay on Tuesday.

“It’s a bit of a moving feast as the upstream flows are monitored, but the closer it gets the more accurate it gets,” Mr Craig said.

“The town (of Hay) itself is looking very good, there is some low-land inundation but it’s been a long time coming.”

Minor flooding occurred at Tumut on Monday, where the river reached about 2.2 metres.

1pm:

The SES has issued an update on the flood situation.

Minor flooding is developing at Tumut and is expected to peak at 2.2 metres by 3pm, but is easing along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai where it peaked at 6.1 metres overnight.

A flood peak of 8.9 metres is expected for Wagga tonight at about 6pm, but is not expected to exceed minor levels.

Moderate flooding continues at Narrandera where the river is expected to reach 7.7 metres on Friday and minor flooding is current at Darlington Point, which is expected to reach 6.7 metres tomorrow and Carrathool.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay where a peak is expected late tonight and tomorrow.

According to the SES, at or near these heights the following consequences are expected:

Wagga Wagga

6.95 Access road to Oura Beach is cut

7.00 Access to the Common at Gumly Gumly is cut7.20 Gumly Gumly Island is isolated

7.30 The Mundowy (Collingullie-Coolamon) Road is closed removing access between the Sturt Highway and the Old Narrandera Road

7.50 Water enters the Wagga Wagga Beach Caravan Park in lower Johnston Street

7.60 Floodwater covers the causeway on Flowerdale Road closing the gap between the Murrumbidgee River and the Flowerdale Lagoon

7.86 Water over kiosk floor at Wagga Beach

8.00 Low lying areas of Oura affected

8.15 Eunony Bridge Road closed 

8.20 Gumly causeway cut at Maslins (Graham Avenue)

8.50 Gobbagombalin Lagoon backs up Dukes Creek and covers flats

8.70 Water across the floodplain, eventually crossing Hampden Avenue between North Wagga and Cartwrights Hill

8.90 No access from North Wagga to Bomen and Estella. Old Narrandera Road will be flooded. Water breaks out of main channel on northern side upstream of Eunony Bridge and flows across Wantabadgery / Byrnes Road intersection into Bomen Lagoon

Gundagai

6.30 Otway Street causeway impacted

6.50 Landon St Closure and Lower Sheridan St closure

6.90 Overtop of Landon St Bridge

7.00 Middleton Dr may be closed at Yarri Bridge

Narrandera

5.70 Access road to Narrandera Common (located south of the Lake Talbot Swimming Centre between the Main Canal and the Murrumbidgee River) is closed

6.85 Floodwater which has broken out of the Murrumbidgee into Poisoned Water Holes Creek causes it to rise and begin to cover the Newell Highway about 2km south of its western intersection with the Sturt Highway

7.20 The Newell Highway closed at Poisoned Water Holes Creek

7.26 Water covers the road to the Pump House

7.30 Water covers the Euroley Bridge road at a point within the Leeton LGA about 1.5 km south of the bridge over the Murrumbidgee. Water from Poison Water Holes Creek covers Bassetts Road (running north from the Sturt Hwy west of Reas Lane)

7.31 Water covers Buckingbong Road on the approaches to the Brewarrana Bridge over Old Man Creek

Darlington Point

5.50 Inundation of rural floodplains is likely

6.50 Water across the Sturt Highway at "Tubbo" approximately 15 km east of Darlington Point

Water starts to flow over the camping area of the Darlington Point Caravan Park

6.70 Caravan Park is flood affected

Carrathool

7.00 Flooding of low-lying rural areas.

Hay

5.50 Nuisance flooding begins in the area surrounding Hay.

6.00 The road to Madman’s Beach is closed. 

6.38 Roads to Sandy Point and Bushy Bend may close.

For emergency help in floods and storms, call the NSW SES on 132 500.

NSW SES website: www.ses.nsw.gov.au 

FloodSafe website: www.floodsafe.com.au

Bureau of Meteorology weather forecasts and flood predictions including river height information are available at www.bom.gov.au

The SES is monitoring the situation.

11am:

Wagga

Murrumbidgee SES incident controller Graeme Craig said he didn’t expect to see the river reach the 9 metre “trigger level”.

“The river appears to have peaked,” Mr Craig said.

“It was a little up from overnight rains but has started to show signs of a downward trend again.”

The Murrumbidgee River was forecast to peak at 8.9 metres on Sunday night, but fell just shy at 8.88 metres.

“The overnight rain gave it a bit of a top-up, we saw about 15-20mm fall in the catchment,” Mr Craig said.

“There’s a small amount of rain forecast for this afternoon and there could be up to 20mm tomorrow, which could see the river negate the falling level, but we’re not expected to reach the 9 metre trigger.”

The Murrumbidgee River is experiencing its fourth peak since the flooding event began a month ago. 

“Dam releases are being strategically coordinated around rainfall and they (WaterNSW) are continuing to release to free up airspace in the dams,” Mr Craig said.

Wagga council has posted an update to Twitter after Eunony Bridge Road was closed to advise alternate routes.

Hay

The flood peak expected for today has been pushed back to tomorrow, according to Murrumbidgee SES incident controller Graeme Craig.

“It’s a bit of a moving feast as the upstream flows are monitored, but the closer it gets the more accurate it gets,” he said.

“The town itself is looking very good, there is some low-land inundation but it’s been a long time coming.”

6.15pm:

The SES has released the consequences of the rising Murrumbidgee River means along its banks:

At or near these heights the following consequences are expected:

Wagga

6.95 Access road to Oura Beach is cut

7.00 Access to the Common at Gumly Gumly is cut7.20 Gumly Gumly Island is isolated

7.30 The Mundowy (Collingullie-Coolamon) Road is closed removing access between the Sturt Highway and the Old Narrandera Road

7.50 Water enters the Wagga Wagga Beach Caravan Park in lower Johnston Street

7.60 Floodwater covers the causeway on Flowerdale Road closing the gap between the Murrumbidgee River and the Flowerdale Lagoon

7.86 Water over kiosk floor at Wagga Beach

8.00 Low lying areas of Oura affected

8.15 Eunony Bridge Road closed 

8.20 Gumly causeway cut at Maslins (Graham Avenue)

8.50 Gobbagombalin Lagoon backs up Dukes Creek and covers flats

8.70 Water across the floodplain, eventually crossing Hampton Avenue between North Wagga and Cartwrights Hill. 

8.90 No access from North Wagga to Bomen and Estella. Old Narrandera Road will be flooded. Water breaks out of main channel on northern side upstream of Eunony Bridge and flows across Wantabadgery / Byrnes Road intersection into Bomen Lagoon.

Gundagai

6.30 Otway Street Causeway impacted

6.50 Landon St Closure and Lower Sheridan St Closure

6.90 Overtop of Landon St Bridge

7.00 Middleton Dr may be closed at Yarri Bridge

Narrandera

5.70 Access road to Narrandera Common (located south of the Lake Talbot Swimming Centre between the Main Canal and the Murrumbidgee River) is closed.

6.85 Floodwater which has broken out of the Murrumbidgee into Poisoned Water Holes Creek causes it to rise and begin to cover the Newell Highway about 2km south of its western intersection with the Sturt Highway. 

7.20 The Newell Highway closed at Poisoned Water Holes Creek

7.26 Water covers the road to the Pump House.

7.30 Water covers the Euroley Bridge Road at a point within the Leeton LGA about 1.5 km south of the bridge over the Murrumbidgee. Water from Poison Water Holes Creek covers Bassetts Road (running north from the Sturt Hwy west of Reas Lane). 

7.31 Water covers Buckingbong Road on the approaches to the Brewarrana Bridge over Old Man Creek.

Darlington Point

5.50 Inundation of rural floodplains is likely.

6.50 Water across the Sturt Highway at "Tubbo" approximately 15 km east of Darlington Point.

Water starts to flow over the camping area of the Darlington Point Caravan Park.

6.70 Caravan Park is flood affected

Carrathool

7.00 Flooding of low-lying rural areas.

Hay

5.50 Nuisance flooding begins in the area surrounding Hay.

6.00 The road to Madman’s Beach is closed. 

6.38 Roads to Sandy Point and Bushy Bend may close.

5.40pm

The latest flood bulletin from the BOM says minor flooding is easing at Gundagai.

Wagga is currently experiencing minor flood levels, and a peak is expected to reach the city late on Monday.

Read the flood warning below:

Minor flooding is easing along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai.

Minor flooding is current at Wagga, where a peak is expected late Monday afternoon with minor flooding.

Moderate flooding continues at Narrandera and minor flooding is current at Darlington Point and Carrathool.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay where a peak is expected late Monday.

Predicted river heights/flows

Gundagai

- remain above the minor flood level (6.1 metres) overnight Sunday  into Monday.

Wagga 

- peak near 8.9 metres around 6pm Monday with minor flooding

Narrandera

- peak near 7.7 metres around Friday [07/10/16] with moderate flooding

Darlington Point

- peak near 6.7 metres around Tuesday [11/10/16] with minor flooding

Hay 

- peak near 8.2 metres around Monday [03/10/16] with major flooding ahead of a second flood peak due during the third week of October

Balranald

- remain below minor flood level

Latest river heights

Murrumbidgee R at Mt Macdonald 2.1m falling (2.30pm Sunday) 

Tumut R at Tumut 1.08m steady (5pm Sunday) 

Murrumbidgee R at Gundagai 7.21m steady (5.10pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Eringoarrah 8.09m steady (5pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Wagga Wagga 8.75m falling (5.15pm Sunday) 

Murrumbidgee R at Narrandera 7.53m steady (5.10pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R Gogeldrie Weir 6.97m steady (4.45pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Darlington Point 6.65m steady (5.15pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Carrathool 7.45m rising (5pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Hay Weir 9.43m steady (4.45pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Maude Weir 6.92m steady (5pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Redbank Weir 5.74m steady (4.45pm Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Balranald Weir 5.7m steady (5.15pm Sunday)

1pm

Burrinjuck Dam has received 88.2mm of rain since Thursday, pushing its levels back to close to 100 per cent of capacity.

Blowering Dam received a whopping 125.4mm over the same period. It now sits at 95.1 per cent full.

10.45am

Here’s the latest flood warning from the Bureau of Meteorology:

Moderate flooding is occurring along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai where the river peaked near 7.9 metres Sunday morning.

Minor flooding is current at Wagga.

Moderate flooding continues at Narrandera and minor flooding is current at Darlington Point and Carrathool.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay where a major flood peak is expected around Monday.

Predicted river heights/flows

Gundagai

- remain around the moderate flood level (7.6 metres) during Sunday.

Wagga 

- peak near 8.7 metres around 6pm Sunday with minor flooding.

Darlington Point

- peak near 6.7 metres around Monday with minor flooding.

Hay 

- peak near 8.2 metres around Monday with major flooding ahead of a second flood peak due in second week of October.

Balranald

- remain below minor flood level.

Latest river heights

Murrumbidgee R at Mt Macdonald 2.14m falling (8.30am Sunday)

Tumut R at Tumut 1.2m steady (9.20am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Gundagai 7.78m steady (9.40am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Eringoarrah 8.03m steady (9.15am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Wagga Wagga 8.63m falling (9.45am Sunday) 

Murrumbidgee R at Narrandera 7.51m steady (9.40am Sunday) 

Murrumbidgee R Gogeldrie Weir 6.97m steady (8.45am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Darlington Point 6.64m steady (9.45am Sunday) 

Murrumbidgee R at Carrathool 7.44m steady (9.15am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Hay Town N/A

Murrumbidgee R D/S Hay Weir 9.42m steady (8.45am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Maude Weir 6.91m steady (9.15am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R at Redbank Weir 5.74m steady (8.45am Sunday)

Murrumbidgee R D/S Balranald Weir 5.69m steady (9.45am Sunday)

10pm

Four homes at the end of Edward Street West have been evacuated in Wagga. 

An evacuation warning has been issued relating to 15-20 properties in Flowerdale.

An SES media spokesperson said the situation was not expected to worsen overnight.

5pm

Police are calling on motorists not to enter flooded creeks, or attempt to drive through road and creek crossings, due to the large volume of water flowing in the creek or rivers, around the Riverina and surrounding districts.

Wagga Local Area Command Police today rescued an elderly couple caught in a flooded crossing, near the Boree Creek area, south west of Wagga.

The couple managed to get themselves to higher ground, but the vehicle required towing.

3.45pm

Video of Paddys River Falls in Kosciuszko National Park. 

2.30pm

An evacuation order remains in place for Riverglade Caravan Park in Tumut after 16 caravans were evacuated yesterday.

Another cold front is predicted to reach the Tumut region by Sunday night-early Monday morning, bringing more rain, strong winds, thunderstorms and potential flash flooding.

10 to 30 mm of rain is predicted for Monday and another 6 to 20mm is expected for Tuesday. Although the Tumut River level is currently steady (and below minor flood class), it is expected to rise again when this next cold front comes through.

With the ground already saturated, the potential for flooding in low lying areas is high.

There is also a high risk for water over roads, as creek and river levels may rise rapidly.

Roads closed in Lockhart Shire:

12.15pm

There have been three minor flood rescues this morning, SES Murrumbidgee have confirmed.

 Incident controller Mark Coulter said a man camping in Oura had to be rescued at 10.30am after waking up to find his tent had been completly surrounded by water.

A Gundagai motorist also had to be rescued after becoming stuck in floodwaters near Railway bridge.

SES managed to retrieve the man and his car by pulling him out using a FWD.

Another motorist was rescued by Murray SES near The Rock. 

Wagga City Council staff have also spent this morning pumping water off Hampden Avenue along Wilks Park in North Wagga. 

12pm 

Up to the minute updates can be found at  livetraffic.com. 

Wagga

Road closures due to flooding: 

Water over road and speed restrictions at the following locations:

Griffith

Road closures due to flooding:

Open with water over road:

Narrandera

Road closed or impacted due to flooding:

Greater Hume Shire

Roads closed due to flooding:

11.30am

A minor to major flood warning still exists for the Murrumbidgee River.

Minor flooding is occurring along the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai and Wagga.

Moderate flooding continues at Narrandera and minor flooding is current at Darlington Point and Carrathool.

5pm

SES have evacuated 16 caravans from Tumut Caravan park.

SES Murrumbidgee incident controller Mark Coulter said they had also issued an evacuation warning for homes nearby on Elm and River Streets

2pm

Tumbarumba SES are reporting that the Henry Angel campgrounds are closed until further notice because of flood water over the road.

11am

A moderate to major flood warning has been issued for the Murrumbidgee River.

Up to 50 millimetres of rain has been recorded in the upper reaches of the Murrumbidgee Valley in the last 24 hours generating some river rises in the Upper Murrumbidgee valley.

Further rainfall is forecast over the next 24 to 48 hours which will produce some further river rises. The situation is being closely monitored and revised predictions issued if necessary.

Moderate flooding is current at Narrandera and at Carrathool minor flooding is current where the river is steady around 7.40 metres.

At Darlington Point the river is steady with minor flooding.

Major flooding is occurring at Hay where a major flood peak of 8.2 metres is now expected around Sunday. 

Wagga is predicted to exceed the minor flood level of 7.3 metres at 6am on Saturday morning and will reach 7.4 metres late Saturday night. 

As of 9.45am this morning, the river is sitting at 7.06 metres at Wagga. 

10.45am

Latest road conditions according to Wagga council:

Road closures due to flooding: 

Water over road and speed restrictions at the following locations:

See older coverage here