A hurricane system that hit several parts of Sydney with heavy rain for four days from the city, satellite images showed Wednesday, although the rivers are always above normal levels, forcing many people to evacuate. More than 85,000 New South Wales residents, most of them west of Sydney, have been asked to leave or warned they could get evacuation orders, from 50,000 on Tuesday, officials said.”This is still a dangerous situation and we must respond appropriately,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the media, while announcing an emergency payment of A $ 1,000 ($ 680) to flood-affected residents.
A solid low pressure system off Australia’s east coast moved to the central north coast of New South Wales extending 300 km (186 miles), where the weather office predicted more than 200mm (8 inches) rainfall over six hours. Heavy rains since Saturday continue to evacuate water sources in the river that surrounds Sydney, which is already close to flooding before the recent floods, as authorities have warned that flooding could continue until early next week.
The climate on the east coast of Australia is dominated by La Nina, which is often associated with heavy rainfall, for two consecutive years. The event ended in June, but there is a 50-50 chance that it could be rescheduled later this year, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Television footage showed cars parked on the roof and residents lined up with homes and businesses carrying sandbags, while paramedics were seen rescuing abandoned farm animals.
Some regions in New South Wales have been hit by rainfall of up to 700 mm (28 inches) since Saturday, which is more than the annual average, but conditions have begun to improve in Sydney.”We are looking at dry conditions (in Sydney) tomorrow and on Friday, small showers are coming back for the weekend but nothing is as heavy as we have seen,” meteorologist Jonathan How told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
