Thousands devasted as Sydney faces the worst floods in the past 60 years. Australia is witnessing its worst deluge. The disaster happened just a year after the unexpected bushfires that affected the same region, Sydney. The country was not ready for another blow as Australia already faced a prolonged drought caused by the wildfires that lasted for months.
Emergency authorities rescued hundreds of people from the torrential downpour. They also asked residents in the low-lying areas of NSW to evacuate as soon as possible. According to the authorities, till now around 18,000 people have been evacuated. The floods affected the east coast of NSW. Many of the residents have moved to the north of the city of Sydney. Gladys Berejiklian, the New South Wales Premier said that the huge flash floods have affected the most populous part of Australia (estimated population of 8 million people).
Berejiklian stated that 4000 more people might be asked to evacuate as the fast-moving floods approach other parts of the state. The Australian government has declared it a natural disaster in the affected parts of NSW.
Floods in Australia
Moreover, Sydney’s primary water source Warragamba, including several other dams, is overflowing. This is causing river levels to rise. The consistent downpour has also hindered Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine delivery across New South Wales. The country’s plan of delivering the first doses of the vaccine in the coming weeks has also been affected drastically.
“We have to wait and see what happens with the weather in the coming days,”
said Australia’s operational chief medical officer, Michael Kidd, in a televised briefing. No causalities are reported so far. The Bureau of Meteorology official Jane Golding said that large parts of the east coast of Australia will be getting another hit of rains from Monday. This is due to the combination of a tropical low winds over northern Western Australia and a coastal trough off NSW. CNN reported that
“The State Emergency Service (SES) has responded to 7,000 calls for assistance and conducted more than 750 flood rescues. Thousands of emergency workers and volunteers are still on the ground, helping trapped residents.”
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