(REUTERS): Australian authorities are planning to evacuate thousands more people today (Monday) from flood-affected suburbs in Sydney’s west, with another day of heavy rain triggering the worst floods in 60 years.
Days of torrential downpours have caused rivers and dams to overflow around Sydney – the state capital – and in south-east Queensland. Officials say the “one-in-a 50-year event” may continue all week and have urged the public to exercise caution.
The Warragamba Dam – the source of much of Sydney’s drinking water – overflowed on Saturday prompting evacuations, school closures and warnings of worse to come. “Flooding is likely to be higher than any floods since Nov 1961,” NSW emergency services said in a tweet. Authorities expect the wild weather to continue until Wednesday.
The fast-moving floodwaters have inundated houses, swept away vehicles and farm animals, and submerged roads, bridges, houses and farms, television and social media footage showed. No casualties have been reported so far.
Meanwhile, about 18,000 Australians have been evacuated from flooding across New South Wales (NSW) as heavy rain continues to batter the east coast.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said many of the communities “being battered by the floods” had been affected by bushfires and drought the previous summer. “I don’t know any time in state history where we have had these extreme weather conditions in such quick succession in the middle of a pandemic,” she added.
“These are very, very serious and very severe storms and floods, and it’s a very complex weather system too. So this is a very testing time,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told radio station 2GB on Monday.
The day’s forecast is expected to bring more rain as a deepening trough feeds more moisture across central Australia towards the east. Sydney is expected to receive between 40 and 70 millimetres of rain today, while parts of the east coast will see in excess of 100mm over the next four days.
