FLOODS IN AUSTRALIA FORCE 50,000 TO EVACUATE, DISASTER DECLARED

Tue 05 July 2022:

After devastating floods struck the eastern coast state of New South Wales, Australia has declared a natural disaster.

The statement, which was made late on Monday, ought to make it possible for emergency funds to be distributed to impacted areas quickly. Since Friday, there have been significant downpours, especially in Greater Sydney.

The BBC reports that Greater London receives more rain annually than some regions of New South Wales had in the past four days.

As of Tuesday morning, 50,000 people were under evacuation orders, and hundreds of people called for emergency help over the course of the night, according to Australian network ABC.

Emergency services were repeatedly called out to rescue members of the public. Almost 20,000 houses lost power and entire areas were under metres of water.

A powerful low-pressure weather system between Australia’s east coast and New Zealand’s North Island is driving moisture and waves towards New South Wales and causing the torrential rain.

Some of the areas affected were still in the process of recovering from historic flooding in February and March.

Australia has historically experienced extreme weather conditions, which climate change has only served to worsen in recent years. For instance, a heatwave hit the majority of the nation in mid-January, with west coast temperatures reaching over 50 degrees Celsius.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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