A daily 5 minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability.
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Greg Dyett.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet says 500,000 people are subject to either flood warnings or evacuation orders.
More rain is expected in the Hunter, Central Coast and Sydney.
Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology warns heavy rainfall on coastal locations can lead to life threatening flash flooding.
"We are expecting 50-150 millimetres today in that part of the world and we could also see isolated totals in excess of 200 millimetres particularly with any thunderstorms."
In the coastal town of Ballina, thousands of homes have been flooded.
Mayor of Ballina Shire Council Sharon Cadwallader says phone reception is poor and the internet is off.
"We're in the thick of it here and it's just terrible to think that in this day and age that we haven't got a better communications system when we're so reliant on it."
Thunderstorms and hail in southeast Queensland are likely to lead to even more flooding.
These are the worst floods in ten years with more than 17,000 homes and businesses damaged and nine deaths.
Western Australia has re-opened its borders after months of being cut off from the rest of the world.
The state will welcome people who have had three COVID-19 vaccinations from other parts of Australia and from overseas.
World Vision Australia says it has helped dozens of children evacuate Kyiv after an orphanage was bombed and destroyed by Russian forces.
So far, more then 874,000 people have fled the fighting in Ukraine in the seven days since Russia invaded.
World Vision Australia's Daniel Wordsworth told SBS News the situation is likely to worsen.
"We expect in the next few weeks maybe another 200, up to 1500 orphan children who are going to need homes outside of Ukraine."
Australia will join 30 countries in releasing a combined 60 million barrels of oil from its reserve supplies to bring down prices.
The price of petrol has increased following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Thirty million barrels of oil will come from the United States with the amount released to Australia to be announced in the coming days.
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich has announced he plans to sell the Chelsea Football Club.
He has owned the club for 19 years and has always denied claims he has links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I'm Greg Dyett and this is SBS News in Easy English.
