Transport authorities have urged festivalgoers in Sydney to avoid the opening of Vivid on Friday night, as heavy rainfall across the city causes widespread chaos on roads and railways.
Flash flooding closed sections of the Airport and South line and the Central Coast line, and there were widespread delays and disruptions on other heavy rail lines across the city.
The intense rainfalls also saw Lewisham station shut so water could be pumped out of the station.
Services on the Airport and South line have since resumed but “residual delays” were expected to continue across the majority of Sydney’s train network for the rest of Friday.
Meanwhile, there were major road closures across Sydney, while almost all ferry services were affected by the weather, including flooding on the Parramatta River.
As a result of the chaos, Transport for New South Wales was on Friday afternoon warning Sydneysiders to reconsider their need to travel – including for the opening night of the Vivid light festival.
Transport for NSW coordinator general Howard Collins said:
If you can come early next week instead, please consider doing that.
You won’t get to see it all in one night – plan your Vivid Sydney experience over a few nights.
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening.
The vote count in Bradfield continues to be on a knife edge and is expected to be completed very soon – keen an eye out for our upcoming story when the final result lands.
Here’s what else we learnt today:
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Five people have died and more than 700 people have been rescued as heavy flooding continues to swamp areas of the Hunter Valley and mid-north coast of New South Wales.
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Heavy rain is expected to gradually ease in NSW but the risk of flooding continues as water continues to make its way into the river system.
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The reconciliation between the Liberals and the Nationals appears on track after opposition leader Sussan Ley held further party room talks on Friday.
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Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack has added pressure on Nationals leader David Littleproud, confirming he held talks with Ley on Thursday.
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An Indigenous traditional owner has launched legal action to force the new environment minister, Murray Watt, to consider protecting ancient rock art before he makes a decision on a major gas development.
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The chair of Creative Australia, Robert Morgan, is retiring from his position on the board, arts minister Tony Burke has announced.
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Elon Musk’s Starlink has been put on notice by the Australian communications watchdog after complaints about its record keeping.
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Transport authorities have urged festivalgoers in Sydney to avoid the opening of Vivid on Friday night, as heavy rainfall across the city causes widespread chaos
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The former foster mother of missing toddler William Tyrrell has had a conviction over the intimidation and assault of another child overturned.
Thanks for your company today. Look after yourselves!
A 49-year-old man missing in the flooding near Nymboida has been found after a two-day search.
Police began searching for the man on Wednesday night after they received a report that he had failed to return home after walking near a flooded roadway at Nymboida, about 40km south of Grafton, NSW police said in a statement.
A crew comprised of police officers, SES, RFS and Fire Rescue services searched the area that night but were unable to located him. They resumed searching in daylight hours yesterday and today.
The man was located shortly after 5pm at a property at Kangaroo Creek, about 12km from where he had been last seen, after reports members of the community had found him.
He is reported to be in good spirits.
A fifth person has been found dead in flood-affected areas of NSW, police have confirmed.
In a statement just now, NSW police said:
About 12pm on Wednesday 21 May 2025, a concern for welfare was raised for a man after he was unable to be contacted for several days, and a shed was reportedly alight at a Cooplacurripa property, about 50km north-west of Taree.
Emergency services were unable to access the property by road due to flooding and landslides.
Due to severe weather conditions in the area, air crews were unable to access the property until earlier today (Friday 23 May 2025).
Police Rescue officers aboard a NSW RFS helicopter attended about 1pm and commenced a search of the property with officers locating a body in a burnt-out vehicle inside the shed. Specialist forensic officers will attend and examine the scene.
While yet to be formally identified, the body is believed to be that of the occupant aged in his 80s.
Police attached to Manning/Great Lakes police district have commenced an investigation into the man’s death and a report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.
Disaster season’s now all year long, insurance council says
Hall claims insurers have changed their processes so that victims of disasters do not have to wait for extremely long times just for temporary accomodation, assessment or repair.
Insurers, Hall says, now recognise that disaster season goes all year:
Nowadays for the insurance sector, we have to have a workforce that is operating across the 12 months. It’s no longer just a case that we have a workforce over the summer holiday period when we usually have these events. We’re now seeing a disaster season really stretched throughout the year, and insurers have had to rebuild their workforces to be able to cope with that.
He says the biggest problem that Australia needs to address, though, is preventing homes from flooding in the first place:
People should not be living in areas where they have two or three metres of dirty, muddy water go through their property every four or five years. We’ve really got to address this problem in this country.
I think we’ve got to look at towns like Taree, Kempsey and the like and work out how do we finish off the flood defences for those communities so that these homes don’t flood in the first place?
Flood victims advised not to delay clean-ups
Hall says that as of this afternoon, about 1,600 claims have been reported to the council, but its expects that with tens of thousands of people evacuated and a lot of communities cut off from communication, that will go up.
People often return to their properties, realise there is damage and then start contacting their insurance companies to lodge a claim, Hall says.
As soon as we’re aware that you may have a claim, we can start getting assessors lined up to be able to get out to your property.
Hall advises people not to wait for the insurance assessors to clear out waterlogged furniture, as getting it out quickly will help to prevent mould, but to document everything with photos:
I think the other key message that we’ve got for people is that when you get back to your property, you do not need to wait for an assessor to start cleaning out. If you’ve got the all clear from the SES and authorities to go back into your property, and you’ve got waterlogged and damaged furniture and the like, if it’s waterlogged and damaged, get it out of the house. Because the sooner you can get it out, the sooner you can fight off things like mould.
All we ask for people to do is use your phone to take photos of everything that you’ll be making a claim on.
Insurance council declares ‘significant’ flood event
Andrew Hall, the chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia, has been speaking to the ABC about the NSW floods.
The Insurance Council has declared a “significant event” in for the mid-north coast and Hunter regions – one level below “catastrophe” – which means, he says, that:
We’re collecting data from across the industry to track where the claims are coming from, where the problems are. It means that we’re activating insurance teams so that there are people already on the ground. And then as we get into next week, we’ll be looking to open up insurance hubs in some of those affected communities so that people can come in and speak to someone face-to-face.
Tacoma South residents urged to seek higher ground
The NSW SES is advising people in low-lying areas of Tacoma South on the Central Coast to move to higher ground due to hazardous major flooding in South Tacoma Road, Kingsland Close and Raymond Street.
They are also advising people in the following areas of Chittaway Point to move to higher ground due to major flooding:
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Low-lying areas along Geoffrey Rd, Royle St, Henery St and Hyles St
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Low-lying areas around the Ourimbah Creek, Chittaway Bay
Bradfield lead drops to four votes
Yes I am going to continue to give you a blow-by-blow account here: Gisele Kapterian’s lead on Nicolette Boele in Bradfield is now down to four votes.
Taree hospital advises near-term pregnant women to have back-up birth plan
Manning hospital in Taree remains open and operational amid the floods on the NSW mid-north coast but the staff have advised women who are nearly full term in their pregnancy to ensure they have alternative plans in place if needed.
The health service functional area coordinator for the Hunter New England local health district, Elizabeth Grist, said pregnant women and families should call the maternity unit at the hospital if they had concerns, or triple zero in an emergency:
We also have midwives on call in all isolated areas to assist NSW Ambulance if required.
We continue to use and leverage virtual health to deliver clinical appointments, welfare checks and follow-ups for those unable to attend the hospital.
We continue to contact patients and thank them for their understanding as we reschedule appointments and planned surgeries over the next couple of days.
And the lead has shifted in Bradfield: Liberal Gisele Kapterian is now six votes ahead of independent Nicolette Boele.
If you want to quickly catch up on all today’s news, the Afternoon Update is a great place to do that:
