Heavy rains submerged east Australia on Tuesday, releasing evacuation orders for thousands of people for the second time in this very month. The authorities from the Bureau of Meteorology have warned that the severe weather is likely to continue for the next 24 hours.
Two people have lost their lives in the latest floods. One of them, a man, was found dead after his vehicle got caught in the floodwaters, in Queensland State.
Multiple towns across the southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales were still battling with clearing a multitude of debris from the destructive previous flood in March that had killed at least 21 people and had annihilated hundreds of houses, farms, and livestock.
Stephanie Cooke, the New South Wales Emergency Services Minister said that many buildings that were submerged a month ago, in some of the worst-hit regions, are expected to be inundated again.
“It is an unfortunate reality of the current situation that we are facing,” Cooke said.
As the recovery efforts are being carried out, the Bureau of Meteorology warned on Tuesday of possibilities of deadly flash floods along the northern New South Wales coast throughout the length of over 500 km. The weather bureau also said that over the next six hours, there are possibilities of secluded rainfall measuring up to 12 inches in some regions.
With rising river levels, the residents in the northern New South Wales town of Lismore, were ordered to evacuate by Tuesday afternoon. Earlier too, the area was among the worst-hit by the floods just a month ago.
“We are very much in the hands of the gods today,” Lismore mayor Steve Krieg said to Channel Nine. Krieg also said that another flood within a period of weeks, while residents were still trying to get their lives on track “just really drains you emotionally and mentally.”
Residents are grabbing sandbags from the emergency services before fleeing their homes. The Department of Defence said that around 3,300 military personnel will be present in the flood-hit areas to help in evacuating the residents.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has declared the floods as a national emergency and has designated calamity zones in flood-stricken towns which will be receiving extra funds for recovery.
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