One of the worst floods over the past 60 years, the Australia, with thousands of people having been forced to flee their homes.
Coastal areas of New South Wales as well as its neighborhoods Sydney, are underwater, with official reports stating that More than 250 millimeters of rain have fallen in the past 24 hours.
Authorities have issued a dramatic appeal to 8 million people to avoid nonessential travel.
In 2019, the same region was hit by major forest fires, while water use restrictions had been imposed due to prolonged drought. Experts say that extreme weather events will intensify in Australia in the coming years due to climate change.
The Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berezikian, He stated that 18,000 people have been ordered to evacuate their homes and that 38 areas have been declared natural disaster zones. «I don’t know of any other time in our history when we’ve faced such a series of extreme weather events in the midst of a pandemic,» he emphasized.
Η fire department has received at least 8,800 calls for help.
The Mid North Coast, north of Sydney, is the hardest-hit area, and Berejiklian said it had been struck by a «once-in-a-century» disaster.
Around Sydney, in the valley Hawksberry–Nipian, the water level in the rivers reached at levels not seen since 1961. At the same time, on Saturday afternoon, the Waragamba Dam, which supplies drinking water to Sydney.
More than 200 schools have closed, while the weather service announced that weather conditions will remain difficult today as well, though they are expected to improve later this week.
