AUSTRALIA: Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate as heavy rains smashed Australia’s east coast on Monday, submerging towns and stranding residents on rooftops, with authorities warning of life-threatening flash floods.
Nine people have been killed since the deluge began last Thursday, and rescue teams were searching on Monday for at least four people reported missing.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who called the unprecedented rains a “weather bomb”, said defence personnel would be deployed to flood-hit areas to lead both rescue and recovery operations.
The Brisbane River in the Queensland capital peaked on Monday morning, flooding several streets in Australia’s third largest city. Social media posts showed indundated houses and debris, including bins, boats and cars, floating down roads.
In the northern New South Wales city of Lismore, the city’s Wilsons River was threatening to reach around 14.2 metres surpassing the last peak back in 1954.
Australia’s east coast summer has been dominated by the La Nina climate pattern, which is typically associated with greater rainfall, for the second straight year.
Several regions have seen rainfall records for February broken because of the relentless downpour, with some places getting more than a month’s or more than a year’s rains in one day.
Many of the nine fatalities were people who had attempted to cross flooded roads, either by foot or in a vehicle, including one man who was found in a submerged car on Monday morning with his deceased dog.
– THE TIMES OF INDIA