Australia floods: thousands evacuated, schools shut as fresh rains worsen
- The days-long deluge has inundated coastal areas of New South Wales and eight million residents were told to avoid unnecessary travel
- In Sydney, swollen rivers were expected to peak at levels not seen since 1961 after the Warragamba Dam spilled over last week
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The days-long deluge has inundated coastal areas of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, with parts of Sydney experiencing what officials predicted would be the biggest flood in decades.
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Homes swept away as Australia’s worst flooding forces 18,000 people to evacuate
On Monday, eight million residents were told to avoid unnecessary travel and work from home if possible, as some hard-hit areas received 25 centimetres of rain in 24 hours.
He told parliament that Australia’s defence force was expected to be called in to assist with the clean-up and recovery.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said about 18,000 people have been ordered to evacuate and 38 regions have been declared disaster zones.
“I don’t know any time in a state history where we have had these extreme weather conditions in such quick succession in the middle of a pandemic,” she said.
Emergency services have received at least 8,800 calls for help and rescued hundreds of people from floodwaters since the crisis began.
The state’s Mid North Coast has been particularly badly affected, with Berejiklian declaring the region had been struck by a “one in 100 year” disaster.
In Sydney’s vast Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, swollen rivers were expected to peak at levels not seen since 1961, after the Warragamba Dam, the city’s main drinking water source, spilled over on Saturday.
The dam was drained of 500 gigalitres of water – roughly equivalent to 200,000 Olympic size swimming pools or the total volume of water in Sydney Harbour.
Residents in some affected areas were allowed to return to their homes on Monday after waters receded, but others were placed on high alert as floods moved toward their regions.
Authorities have warned of a potentially “life-threatening” situation though so far there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries.
“When you have been through three or four incidents that are life-changing on top of each other, it can make you feel like you are a breaking point,” Berejiklian said.
“Please know that we are thinking of you and getting you support as much as we can.”
Education authorities said more than 200 schools were closed, including some that had been damaged in the floods.
There were reports homes and businesses had also been damaged but Andrew Hall, CEO, Insurance Council of Australia said it was too early to understand the “extent of the damage to property in affected areas and to estimate the insurance damage bill”.
Insurers had received more than 5,000 claims in the past few days, he added.
Residents of official disaster zones are eligible for emergency government support payments of A$1,000 (US$770) per adult and A$400 per child.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of “treacherous” conditions on Monday before the wild weather is forecast to ease later in the week. Flood operations manager Justin Robinson warned the rain was expected to cause flooding in previously unaffected areas as well as “renewed flooding in many of those communities that have already been impacted”.
“It is quite a dangerous situation that New South Wales is currently facing,” he said.
Rainfall records were expected to keep tumbling in the coming days as the deluge spreads into the state’s northwest, and further north into Queensland state where weather warnings were also issued.
