Rivers overflowing with rain dumped muddy water in several areas of Sydney on Tuesday, flooding homes and streets and forcing thousands to flee.
Emergency services have now directed about 50,000 people. clear it Or to prepare for rising waters in New South Wales, officials said.
Emergency personnel carried out 22 flood rescue operations in Sydney overnight, he said, with the support of 100 military troops stationed in the state.
Officials said 19,000 homes were out of power due to floods, heavy rain and strong winds.
Australia has been on the cusp of climate change, with droughts, deadly bushfires, bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and flooding becoming more common and intense as global weather patterns change.
Higher temperatures mean there is more moisture in the atmosphere, which leads to more rain.
“Sydney is not out of danger, this is no time to be complacent,” State Emergency Services Commissioner Carlin York told a news conference.
“It’s risky out there.”
Meteorologists have predicted that the weather front will move north along the east coast after four days of rain in Sydney.
The federal government has declared a natural disaster in 23 flood-hit parts of New South Wales, facilitating relief payments to affected residents.
‘it is very fast’
With much of the ground already wet, water rose rapidly in the most affected areas and was soon circling around the walls of some homes in the western Sydney suburbs.
Many of the affected have gone through successive east coast floods in 2021 and again in March this year when more than 20 people were killed.
“It’s so fast, you can’t even get out so quickly, you can’t move anything,” said resident Jenny Lee as parts of her western Sydney suburb of Shanes Park were cordoned off overnight.
“You can only get help, take out the pet dog. That’s it,” she said. AFP,
In the western suburb of Windsor, resident Tyler Cassell fled his rental home with his partner by paddling through the water in a yellow canoe.
Flood left his house sitting in a lake of water.
“It grew faster than usual, faster than usual,” he told the national broadcaster. abc,
“It really is one of the most terrible floods I’ve been a part of.”
Most of the flooding has occurred in a major river system downstream of the Warragamba Dam in western Sydney, which has been forced to spill large amounts of additional water since Sunday.
The huge concrete dam supplies most of the city’s drinking water.
“During this period we have had fires and … many floods,” he told a news conference.
“Those orders make sure we get people out safely,” Perrott said.
“This event is not over yet.”
Jane Golding of the state’s Bureau of Meteorology warned that rain had reduced in some areas of Sydney, but flood warnings were likely to continue for several days.