Newcastle (Australia): AustraliaU.S. emergency services ordered 200,000 people to flee the path of a wild storm that was heading towards Sydney On Thursday, 13 people died on the East Coast after record-setting flooding in more than a week.
As water levels rose rapidly, officials issued severe rain and wind warnings for 400 kilometers (250 miles) of coast – the suburbs around Sydney, Australia’s largest city and home to five million people.
The unpredictable storm front has crawled south along the east coast from Queensland to New South Wales, causing rivers and reservoirs to rip up swamp homes with water reaching their roofs.
“Many people are waking up today and seeing much of our state underwater,” said New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrot.
“If you’re under one of those evacuation orders, please get out,” he told a news conference. “Things will get worse before they get better.”
Authorities have ordered 200,000 people to evacuate their homes, and have warned that another 300,000 may soon join them.
The Warragamba Dam in south-west Sydney, which supplies 80 percent of the city’s water, has been intensifying flooding in some areas since early Wednesday.
New South Wales meteorologist Dean Naramore predicted the storm would bring 50-150 millimeters of rain during the day in Sydney and its surrounding areas, possibly more in areas affected by the typhoon.
“It can be dangerous and deadly flash flood,” he warned.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domincino said the storm was being driven by an “atmospheric river”—a long stream of moisture in the air.
Scientists say climate change is causing Australia’s floodsBush fires, cyclones and droughts are more frequent and more intense.
“Australia is at the fore” severe climate changeHilary Bambrick, an environmental expert at Queensland University of Technology, said.
“Temperatures are rising faster in Australia than the global average, and higher temperatures mean there is more moisture in the atmosphere, which means that precipitation events are becoming more extreme.”
In New South Wales, emergency services chief Carlin York said the storm was “difficult to predict” as he warned of a rough day in Sydney and other parts of the state.
Taronga Zoo, located on the edge of Sydney Harbour, is prepared for an influx of wildlife injured by torrential rains and floods.
The first fear was for young wildebeest, small animals – including echidnas and bandicoots – and birds unable to survive the flood waters.
A spokesman told AFP that the birds’ feathers were so submerged in heavy rain that they were unable to fly.
As floodwaters recede, concerns about freshwater animals, including the platypus, will increase.
Flood levels in New South Wales have reached their highest level in decades.
In cities like Lismore in the north-east of the state, which is now clearing up as the floods recede, people climbed onto their roofs, sometimes waiting for several hours to defend themselves from rising waters.
New South Wales said it was sending an additional 400 personnel to the area to help people on the “very, very long road” to clean-up and recovery.
“Many people have returned home in the northern rivers today and in the past 24 hours, and they have returned home to the devastating scenes,” said state chief Perrot. “My message is that we will be with you.”
He said the state of more than eight million residents is going through a difficult three years of “droughts, fires, floods, floods again on top of the pandemic”.
As water levels rose rapidly, officials issued severe rain and wind warnings for 400 kilometers (250 miles) of coast – the suburbs around Sydney, Australia’s largest city and home to five million people.
The unpredictable storm front has crawled south along the east coast from Queensland to New South Wales, causing rivers and reservoirs to rip up swamp homes with water reaching their roofs.
“Many people are waking up today and seeing much of our state underwater,” said New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrot.
“If you’re under one of those evacuation orders, please get out,” he told a news conference. “Things will get worse before they get better.”
Authorities have ordered 200,000 people to evacuate their homes, and have warned that another 300,000 may soon join them.
The Warragamba Dam in south-west Sydney, which supplies 80 percent of the city’s water, has been intensifying flooding in some areas since early Wednesday.
New South Wales meteorologist Dean Naramore predicted the storm would bring 50-150 millimeters of rain during the day in Sydney and its surrounding areas, possibly more in areas affected by the typhoon.
“It can be dangerous and deadly flash flood,” he warned.
Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domincino said the storm was being driven by an “atmospheric river”—a long stream of moisture in the air.
Scientists say climate change is causing Australia’s floodsBush fires, cyclones and droughts are more frequent and more intense.
“Australia is at the fore” severe climate changeHilary Bambrick, an environmental expert at Queensland University of Technology, said.
“Temperatures are rising faster in Australia than the global average, and higher temperatures mean there is more moisture in the atmosphere, which means that precipitation events are becoming more extreme.”
In New South Wales, emergency services chief Carlin York said the storm was “difficult to predict” as he warned of a rough day in Sydney and other parts of the state.
Taronga Zoo, located on the edge of Sydney Harbour, is prepared for an influx of wildlife injured by torrential rains and floods.
The first fear was for young wildebeest, small animals – including echidnas and bandicoots – and birds unable to survive the flood waters.
A spokesman told AFP that the birds’ feathers were so submerged in heavy rain that they were unable to fly.
As floodwaters recede, concerns about freshwater animals, including the platypus, will increase.
Flood levels in New South Wales have reached their highest level in decades.
In cities like Lismore in the north-east of the state, which is now clearing up as the floods recede, people climbed onto their roofs, sometimes waiting for several hours to defend themselves from rising waters.
New South Wales said it was sending an additional 400 personnel to the area to help people on the “very, very long road” to clean-up and recovery.
“Many people have returned home in the northern rivers today and in the past 24 hours, and they have returned home to the devastating scenes,” said state chief Perrot. “My message is that we will be with you.”
He said the state of more than eight million residents is going through a difficult three years of “droughts, fires, floods, floods again on top of the pandemic”.