SYDNEY – Thousands of people in the outer suburbs of the city here were today ordered to evacuate, as Australia’s east coast is hit by record rainfall and widespread flooding.
Emergency services issued the evacuation orders for several low-lying areas in the northwest, a day after authorities warned of potentially “life-threatening” flash floods in New South Wales state.
People had already begun flocking to evacuation centres in towns north of Sydney as torrential rains yesterday pummelled a vast coastal region already soaked by an unusually wet summer.
In Taree, where television images showed one house floating down a bloated river, about 150 people slept overnight in a local auditorium that was previously used as a refuge for those fleeing bushfires.
Club Taree chief executive Paul Allen described the floods as a “catastrophe”, telling public broadcaster ABC that some locals have “lost everything”.
The heavy rains are forecast to move down the coast over the weekend, with the wild weather prediction to persist until as late as Thursday.
The Warragamba Dam, which provides much of the drinking water for residents here, spilled over yesterday afternoon in what experts expect is the first significant overflow of the reservoir since 1990.
Emergency services reported receiving more than 1,000 calls for help and carrying out about 100 flood rescues overnight into today.
The downpours and floods are expected to delay the already halting roll-out of coronavirus vaccines in Sydney and surrounding areas.
Australia is due to begin the first major public phase of vaccine distribution tomorrow, although the programme has slipped behind the government’s announced timetable due to supply and delivery issues. – AFP, March 21, 2021
