MELBOURNE – Heavy rain over the east coast of Australia over the weekend has caused the worst flooding in half a century in some areas, authorities said on Sunday, forcing thousands to evacuate and damage hundreds of homes.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the downpour across the country, with Australia’s largest population of 8 million people, was worse than initially expected, especially in low-lying areas in north-west Sydney.
“Yesterday we hoped it would just be a one-in-20-year event, now it looks like a one-to-50-year event,” Berejiklian said at a television briefing.
People in parts of north-west Sydney have been ordered to flee their homes in the middle of the night as fast-moving waters have caused great destruction. Berejiklian said another 4,000 people could still be asked to evacuate.
On television and social media, fast-moving homes were moored to the water, roads engulfed, trees broken and road infrastructure damaged. Emergency services estimate the total number of damaged homes as ‘in the hundreds’.
Several highways were closed across the state, while many schools canceled classes for Monday.
The flood comes in stark contrast to the devastating forest fires that hit Australia in late 2019 and early 2020, when nearly 7 per cent of NSW land was scorched.
Flood and evacuation warnings were in place for about 13 areas in NSW, including the Hunter, one of Australia’s most important wine regions.
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Several dams, including Warragamba, the main water supply in Sydney, flooded and caused river levels to rise.
Meteorologists said the downpour will continue for the rest of Sunday, and some areas are expected to drop to 8 inches of rain.
Emergency personnel have responded to about 6,000 calls for help since the start of the rain on Thursday, including nearly 700 direct pleas to save floods.
The extreme weather also affected Australian Covid-19 vaccine delivery across NSW, disrupting the country’s plans to deliver the first doses to nearly 6 million people over the next few weeks.
“We have to wait and see what happens to the weather in the coming days,” Australian Acting Medical Chief Michael Kidd said in a televised briefing.