Fresh deluge ‘one in 100 years’ has been spoiled by the floods of Australia

On Monday, torrential rains in the southeast of Australia once again caused a one-time flood, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes and closing hundreds of schools.

The day-long deluge has submerged the country’s most populous coastal areas of New South Wales, with parts of Sydney experiencing what officials predicted would be the biggest flood in decades.

On Monday, eight million residents were asked to avoid unnecessary travel and work from home if possible, as some difficult areas received 25 centimeters of rain in 24 hours.

The region was devastated just over a year ago: suffering from prolonged drought, water restrictions and unprecedented bushes.

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Scientists warn that Australia can expect to see more frequent and more extreme weather events as a result of climate change.

Gladys Berekklian, Premier of New South Wales, said about 18,000 people have been ordered to evacuate and 38 areas have been declared disaster zones.

“I don’t know of any time in the history of a state where we got extreme weather conditions in such quick succession in the midst of an epidemic,” she said.

Emergency services have received at least 8,800 calls for help and have rescued hundreds of people from flood waters since the crisis began.

The central northern coast of the state has been particularly badly hit, with Ms. Berejikalian declaring that the region was hit by a “one in 100 years” disaster.

In Sydney’s sprawling Hawkesbury-Napan Valley, swollen rivers had not been seen since 1961, extending on Saturday afternoon after the Warragamba Dam, the city’s main drinking water source.

‘breaking point’

Residents in some of the affected areas were allowed to return to their homes after the water was flooded on Monday, but others were put on high alert as their areas were affected by rising water for the first time.

Authorities have warned of a possible “life-threatening” situation, although there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries so far.

“When you have gone through three or four events that are changing lives on top of each other, it can make you feel like you are a breaking point,” Ms. Berekklian said.

“Please know that we are thinking of you and that you are getting as much support as you can,” she said.

Education officials said that more than 200 schools were closed, including some that were damaged in the floods.

There were reports that homes and businesses were also damaged but Andrew Hall, CEO, Insurance Council of Australia, said it was too early to “understand the amount of damage to property in the affected areas and estimate the insurance damage bill”.

He said that over 5,000 claims were received by insurance companies in the last few days.

Residents of official disaster areas are eligible for emergency government support payments of Aus $ 1,000 per adult and Aus $ 400 per child.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of “treacherous” conditions on Monday, before forecasting wild weather for the week.

Rainfall records were expected to continue to decline over the coming days as the waterfall spreads northwest of the state, and further north is the state of Queensland where flood warnings were also issued.

Health officials have said rains and flooding in Sydney and surrounding areas will delay the already roll-out of coronavirus vaccines.

Australia is scheduled to begin its first major public phase of vaccine delivery on Monday, though the program has slipped behind the government’s announced timetable due to supply and distribution issues.