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Posted: 2017-02-11 00:28:51

Updated February 11, 2017 12:05:49

Flood warnings remain in place across southern Western Australia, with dangerous weather predicted for the state's Great Southern, but emergency authorities say the threat in the Goldfields appears to be easing.

Torrential rain in recent days has swelled waterways' banks and prompted an evacuation warning around the town of Northam, east of Perth.

Today, people in the Great Southern region are being warned to brace for severe weather including heavy rainfall and flash flooding that could damage homes and make travel dangerous.

The worst-affected areas are expected to be south of Hyden and Narrogin, down the south coast including Lake Grace, Lake King, Ravensthorpe, Jerramungup and surrounding areas.

Heavy rainfall overnight hit the area, with the Bureau of Meteorology's gauge at Dragon Rocks recording 53 millimetres between midnight and 3:00am.

Residents are being told to avoid travel if possible, and stay out of the rivers and ocean.

People are also being asked not to drive through flooded areas as the true depth of floodwaters is not always clear.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) issued a warning yesterday saying people in and around Northam should prepare to evacuate.

But district officer Sven Anderson said the river may be close to peaking at Northam and at Toodyay, if it had not already done so, and was not expected to rise further.

"Things are pretty much as expected, or better, which is very good news for us and obviously, for the community," he said.

"Currently things are going really well and it's staying under a level where it's causing any damage.

"Obviously that can change, it won't change quickly but it can certainly change."

He said river levels were likely peaking this morning in Beverley, and downstream later today York, Northam and Toodyay were expected to follow suit.

He said there was still potential danger as water flowed downstream, but rain levels were not expected to be too dramatic.

"The rain expected over the weekend has actually lessened, so we're only expecting up to 5 millimetres today and not that much more on Sunday so that probably won't affect the levels very much," he said.

There is also a flood warning current for the West Kimberley district, and a flood watch for the Pilbara, in the north of the state.

On Friday, Perth had received its second highest rainfall on record, receiving more than 114mm.

However, it only recorded 15mm on Saturday.

Swanbourne received 36.4mm in the same period.

Conditions in the city are expected to ease today, with just 0-1mm of rain predicted to fall, and a top of 26C.

Topics: floods, disasters-and-accidents, weather, wa, perth-6000, albany-6330, wagin-6315, northam-6401

First posted February 11, 2017 10:40:55

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