More than 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as torrential rain
sparked dangerous flash floods, and authorities issued new evacuation orders on
Wednesday for residents in Sydney’s western regions to move to safe zones.
A man’s body was found in a car trapped by floodwaters on Wednesday, the first
death linked to wild weather across Australia in recent days that has submerged
houses swept away cars and livestock and cut off entire towns.
More than 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes as torrential rain
sparked dangerous flash floods, and authorities issued new evacuation orders on
Wednesday for residents in Sydney’s western regions to move to safe zones.
In some other areas, a massive clean-up operation began as sunny skies returned
for the first time in days, and food and other emergency supplies were flown in over
swamped roads.
Homes have been submerged, livestock swept away and crops drowned on a large
scale. There have also been many animal rescues, with watercraft used to move
dogs, cattle, and even an emu, away from the floodwaters. In the country’s arid
center, water cascaded down Uluru, a rare phenomenon described by the national
park on social media as “unique and extraordinary.”
RECOVERY BEGINS
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday that heavy-load
helicopters would be prepared to transport food to supermarkets where supplies
were running short.
“The expanse of water that went right across that region was quite devastating to
see,” Morrison said in parliament after he toured flood-affected areas by helicopter.
Several hundred Australian Defence Force personnel will be sent to flood-affected
areas in the country’s east over the next few days to help in the recovery,
Australia’s Emergency Management minister David Littleproud said on
Wednesday.
Lakshmi Madhusoodanan
MAR 24, 2021