A house is half submerged in flood waters on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, in Londonderry, on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia. on Tuesday.
Highlight
- Hundreds of homes have been inundated in a flood emergency in and around Australia’s largest city
- Officials said on Tuesday that about 50,000 people are suffering because of the flood problem.
- Days of torrential rains have overflowed dams and breached waterways
Sydney Flood News Updates: Hundreds of homes have been submerged in a flood emergency in and around Australia’s largest city, causing distress to 50,000 people, officials said on Tuesday (July 5).
State Emergency Services Manager Ashley Sullivan said emergency response teams rescued 100 people overnight in the Sydney area for people trapped in cars on flooded streets or in flooded homes.
Days of torrential rains have overflowed dams and waterways eroded their banks, triggering the fourth flood emergency in parts of a city of 5 million people in 16 months.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrot said evacuation orders and warnings had been given to 50,000 people to prepare to leave homes, up from 32,000 on Monday (July 4).
“This phenomenon isn’t over yet. Wherever you are, please don’t get complacent. Please be careful when you’re driving on our roads. Our state is still at great risk of flash floods,” Perrott said.
New South Wales state government declared ‘disaster’
The New South Wales state government declared a disaster in 23 local government areas overnight, activating federal government financial assistance for flood victims.
Emergency Services Minister Stephen Cook credited the skill and commitment of rescuers to prevent any deaths or serious injuries by the fourth day of the flood emergency.
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Jonathan How said parts of southern Sydney received more than 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) of rain in 24 hours, more than 17% of the city’s annual average.
A severe warning of heavy rain continued in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on Tuesday (July 5). The warnings also extend along the coast north of Sydney and into the Hunter Valley.
The worst floods were along the Hawkesbury–Nepean river system along Sydney’s northern and western banks.
“The good news is that as of tomorrow afternoon, it is looking mostly dry, but of course, we are reminding people that these floodwaters will very well remain once the rains stop,” Howe said.
“It rained a lot overnight and in fact some rivers are being seen to peak for the second time. So it will take you several days, if not a week, to start seeing these flood waters receding,” Howe added.
Residents of Lanswell in south-west Sydney were surprised by the speed at which their area was submerged and the increasing frequency of such floods.
“Well, it happened in 1986 and ’88, then it didn’t happen for 28 years and so, 2016 and 2020 and now it’s happened four times this year,” a Lanswell local, identified only as Terry, told Australian Broadcasting. told Corp Television. because their house was flooded
Wild weather and mountainous seas along the New South Wales coast thwarted plans to tow a stricken cargo ship with 21 crew members to protect the open sea.
After leaving port in Wollongong, south of Sydney, on Monday morning, the ship lost power and suffered an 8-metre (26-foot) swell and freezing of winds against rocks at 30 knots (34 mph). There was danger.
Port Authority Chief Executive Philip Holiday said attempts to take the ship out into the open sea with the tugboat ended when a towline at 11 meters (36 feet) was broken late Monday.
The ship was maintaining its position more off the coast on Tuesday, with the help of two anchors and two tugboats on Monday. The original plan was for the ship’s crew to repair their engines at sea. Holiday said the new plan was to move the ship to Sydney when the weather and sea conditions calmed down on Wednesday.
“We are in a better position than we were yesterday,” Holiday said. “We are in relative safety.”
Perrot described the response of tugboat crews on Monday to save the ship as “heroic.”
“I want to thank the men and women who were on the crew last night for the heroic work they did in incredibly treacherous conditions. The swell, 11-meter (36-foot) swell of that, said Perrott It’s incredibly impressive to go through the work and get that work done.
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