Floods in Australia: tens of thousands of people asked to evacuate, Sydney spared
An Australian military helicopter flies over the floods above the city of Lismore (New South Wales), February 28, 2022. AFP - BRADLEY RICHARDSON
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Australian emergency services ordered some 200,000 people to evacuate their homes due to heavy rains, which killed 13 people on the East Coast, but the city of Sydney was ultimately spared the feared deluge.
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For more than a week, torrential rains have ravaged the east coast of Australia, moving from the state of Queensland to New South Wales.
Rivers burst their banks and the water submerged houses up to the roof.
Authorities have issued a weather warning for heavy rain and high winds targeting a 400 kilometer strip stretching along Australia's east coast, including the suburbs of Sydney, the country's largest city (five million 'inhabitants).
Evacuation
"
A lot of people woke up this morning to find a large part of their state under water
," said Dominic Perrottet, Premier of New South Wales, where 200,000 residents received the order to evacuate.
“
If you are subject to one of these evacuation orders, please leave
,” he implored at a press conference.
The Warragamba dam, south-west of Sydney, which provides 80% of the drinking water consumed in the metropolis, has been overflowing since Wednesday morning March 2.
The city, however, escaped the dreaded flood.
Some areas along the Hawkesbury and Nepean Rivers that flow through the city's western suburbs, however, have experienced significant flooding, according to a spokeswoman for the New South Wales Meteorological Office.
Extreme events
Across New South Wales, flooding has reached its highest level in decades.
In towns such as Lismore, in the northeast of the state, residents have taken refuge on their roofs, sometimes waiting many hours for help.
“
Many residents returned to their homes today in the Northern Rivers and over the past 24 hours, and found devastating scenes
,” the state premier said.
Australia has been hit hard in recent years by climate change: droughts, deadly bushfires and floods are becoming more frequent and intense.
“
Australia is on the front line of severe climate change,
” said Hilary Bambrick, an environmental expert at Queensland University of Technology.
“
Temperatures are rising faster in Australia than on average globally, and higher temperatures mean the atmosphere holds more moisture, and therefore rain events become more extreme
,” she explained.
(
with AFP
)
►Also read
: Australia: torrential rains and floods now at the gates of Sydney
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