The large city of Sydney in southeastern Australia has also been hit hard by the ongoing rains over the past week. So far, 20 people have died. Tens of thousands of residents of the city have been asked to go to safe places.
Officials in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, say heavy rains, especially in the southwest of Australia’s largest city, have caused new floods. Many roads in the Camden area on the outskirts of the city were flooded and many schools in New South Wales remained closed.
The death toll rose to 20
Evacuation orders have been issued for more than 10 Sydney suburbs. Across the region, about 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, and another 20,000 have been advised to take refuge in safer areas.
Meanwhile, the number of flood victims has increased. The bodies of a 67-year-old woman and her 34-year-old son were pulled out of the water in western Sydney on Tuesday, according to New South Wales Prime Minister Dominic Pirotet. A total of 20 people have been killed in Queensland and New South Wales since heavy rains began in late February, according to the AEP news agency.
Meteorologists have warned of flash floods caused by “heavy and continuous rain”, especially in Sydney and Huxberry, as well as the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. It has been raining non-stop for 16 days in Sydney. According to meteorologists, this kind of rainfall in that area has not been recorded since the beginning of the weather record in 1858.
The amount of rainfall since the beginning of January this year on the east coast of Australia has been recorded at about 822 mm. In comparison, the average annual rainfall in Germany is between 700 and 800 mm.
