Thousands of residents of Australia’s east coast fled their homes on Wednesday. The torrential rains were heading north following flooding Sydney, where roads and bridges are submerged in muddy waters.
Authorities in New South Wales have warned of further flooding north of Australia’s biggest city and warned that flooding rivers, swollen by rain, still pose a danger in parts of Sydney, despite a decrease in rainfall in the city.
“This event is far from over,” warned Dominic Perrottet, Prime Minister of the State. Since the floods began nearly a week ago, emergency services have issued more than 100 evacuation orders.
85,000 people were ordered to leave their homes immediately or to prepare for an imminent departure so as not to be blocked by the rising waters.
The rivers are overflowing
Across Sydney’s western fringe, rivers have burst their banks and large areas have been turned into lakes, with muddy waters invading homes while cutting off roads and bridges.
The federal government has declared a state of natural disaster in 23 flooded areas of New South Wales, releasing aid for affected residents.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the affected area on Wednesday, promising to seek “long-term solutions” following multiple catastrophic floods have hit Australia’s east coast over the past 18 months.
While ‘Australia has always been prone to flooding and bushfires’, scientists warn that climate change will make these events more frequent and intense. ‘This is what (is) happening,’ he noted.
Australia is particularly affected by climate change, regularly hit by droughts, devastating forest fires, not to mention repeated and increasingly severe floods.
According to the weather services, the rainy front is expected to move up along the coast later in the week.
/ATS
