Only a month after the devastating floods on the Australian east coast, parts of the metropolis of Sydney are again affected by heavy rain.
The situation was particularly dangerous in the southern suburbs of Woronora and Bonnet Bay, where authorities ordered thousands of residents to evacuate their homes and seek safety.
In just three months, as much precipitation fell in the city, which is popular with tourists from all over the world, as it usually does in a whole year, the broadcaster 7News quoted a spokesman for the Australian meteorological authority as saying.
An all-clear was initially not in sight: Although the rain will ease over the weekend, new precipitation is expected from Tuesday, it said.
"The ground is saturated with water, the rivers are full, the dams are at their limit," said Dean Story of New South Wales State Emergency Services.
The authorities also warned of possible landslides because of the unstable ground.
Days of heavy rain in February and March led to historic flooding, especially in the north of the state of New South Wales and in neighboring Queensland.
The extreme weather killed more than 20 people.
The destruction was enormous.
In Sydney it had rained almost continuously for two and a half weeks.
At that time, meteorologists were already talking about the wettest start of the year in the country's largest city since weather records began in 1858. Australia is particularly suffering from climate change.