Overview

• Counsel Assisting told the inquest that upstream gauges at Toogong and Smithfield failed to provide timely readings due to damage and telecommunications outages.
• The Bureau of Meteorology issued a 9:07am alert predicting an afternoon peak, but the court heard residents were already experiencing extreme flooding by then.
• Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil is presiding over the five-day hearing examining causes, warnings, and the emergency response.
• About 150 people were airlifted during the 2022 disaster, two residents — Diane Smith, 60, and Les Vugec, 85 — died with causes consistent with drowning, and roughly 80% of homes were damaged or destroyed.
• Mandagery Creek peaked at about 11.2 metres after 9am, exceeding the prior record by roughly a metre, according to a 2023 NSW government investigation.