Heavy rain triggered flash floods that cut off some inland towns in southeastern Australia on Monday and prompted new evacuation warnings for thousands of rural residents. The country’s fourth major flooding this year has seen wild weather hit south-west New South Wales (NSW) and north-east Victoria overnight, bursting river banks and heaping more pain on flood-weary residents. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Twitter that flash flooding was “creating dangerous conditions” and that the federal government was working closely with states on rescue efforts.
In rural NSW, roads, bridges and farms were submerged. Molong, about 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Sydney and home to more than 2,000, was one of the towns hit by severe flooding. Footage on social media showed a shipping container and household items floating through the city centre. “Almost every business went out of business,” Mayor Kevin Beatty told radio station 2GB. He said what appeared to be a shipping container or caravan was stuck on the highway near the town, making it difficult for emergency crews to get to Molong. Residents in Eugowra, population 800, were ordered to move to higher ground after officials deemed evacuation would be dangerous due to flash flooding.
The east coast of Australia is experiencing a rare third consecutive year of La Nina meteorological phenomenon, which is associated with increased rainfall. There are currently more than 100 flood warnings in place across NSW and 84 in Victoria after Bureau of Meteorology figures showed some areas received more than a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours. “We saw a lot of flash flooding where the streets were flooded. Then the water came into the houses … ankle-deep water in some places,” Victoria’s head of emergency operations, told Tim Wiebusch. Heavy rain and thunderstorms also hit the state of South Australia over the weekend. Dozens of schools there have been forced to close, while thousands of homes are still without power.
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