As it happened: Man’s body found in submerged car in Glenorie as clearer skies appear over Sydney, Mid North Coast; flood risk continues

Thank you for joining us today for our live coverage of the NSW floods. It’s time to say good night. Here is a summary of the major events today.

• A 25-year-old man, from Pakistan, died in Sydney’s north-west after his hire car was submerged in floodwaters at Glenorie. He spent 44 minutes on the phone to triple zero before the operator lost contact at 7.04am. Police divers found his body in the vehicle at 1.10pm.
• In Queensland, the body of a man who went missing on Monday was found during a search of a Scenic Rim creek.
• Residents across flood-hit parts of eastern Australia, including Sydney’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, are facing an “itchy, bitey and scratchy” stint as insect numbers are expected to explode in the wake of the deluge.
• Our award-winning photographers spent another day capturing the impact of the devastating floods in communities across the state.
• We spoke to residents in Wisemans Ferry and Windsor, who have faced bushfires and are now wading through floodwaters inside their homes.

A man’s body has been found inside a car in floodwaters in Sydney’s north-west this afternoon.

Emergency services were called about 6.25am today following reports a car was trapped in floodwaters on Cattai Ridge Road, near Hidden Valley Lane, at Glenorie.

Police and SES flood rescue crews went to search for the vehicle in Cattai Creek.

“About 1.10pm, the vehicle was found with a man’s body inside,” NSW Police said in a statement.

“The man has not been formally identified.”

A crime scene has been established and a report will be prepared for the coroner, the statement said.

In Queensland, the body of a man who went missing on Monday has been found during a search of a Scenic Rim creek.

Police and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services staff were working to pull an overturned ute from the swollen Canungra Creek this afternoon when the body of David Hornman was recovered.

Read more here

Residents across flood-hit parts of eastern Australia, including Sydney’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, are facing an “itchy, bitey and scratchy” stint as insect numbers are expected to explode following the deluge.

“It’s shaping up to be a pretty pestilent season along the whole east coast,” says David Emery, a professor of veterinary parasitology at the University of Sydney. “If it’s warm and moist, it’s highly likely we’ll get lots of mosquitoes.”

Ticks, fleas, midges and, if the winds are favourable, biting flies may also blow in from Queensland, adding to the irritation of humans, pets and other animals.

“Everything’s had a good season,” Professor Emery said. “The rain helps all parasites to survive longer if it hasn’t drowned them in the first place.”

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The highest weekly rainfall total across Australia over the past seven days was at Bellwood, Nambucca Heads, on the NSW Mid North Coast.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, the seaside town recorded 991 millimetres in the week ending yesterday, March 23.

“Rainfall totals in excess of 400 millimetres were reported along the coastal areas and Central Tablelands in New South Wales, and a number of locations in Queensland’s central and south-east coast districts,” the bureau said.

“Locations in the Hunter and Mid North Coast districts in New South Wales received over 600 millimetres of rainfall, including the highest weekly total of 991 millimetres at Bellwood in the Mid North Coast, which has exceeded the long-term autumn rainfall average less than one month into the season.

“Rainfall totals between 200 millimetres and 400 millimetres were recorded in areas along the east coast, central and inland southern Queensland, and in the north and along eastern New South Wales. Small areas in the west Kimberley in Western Australia and north-west Top End in the Northern Territory also recorded similar totals.”