Australia is used to extreme natural phenomena. But 16 days of rain in a row – like last time in Sydney – are also an event of the century Down Under. Many people are faced with the ruins of their existence.
Sydney – On Australia’s east coast, the full extent of the catastrophic flooding of the past few days is gradually becoming clear. The infrastructure in parts of the states of Queensland and New South Wales has been completely destroyed.
Thousands of people have lost all their belongings in the water masses. Floods of this magnitude occur at most once in 500 years, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday during a visit to the city of Lismore, where the situation is particularly dramatic. The government declared a national emergency. In this way, she wants to ensure that help is as quick and unbureaucratic as possible.
hope for the future
Morrison also pledged additional financial support for the flooded regions and for families that were particularly hard hit. “There hasn’t been a flood event like this in this part of Australia in living memory, and that’s a profound statement.” Urgent measures must be taken to better prevent floods in the region. Most of all, people need hope for the future. “But whatever is done, given the sheer desperation, it will never be enough to address the situation,” Morrison said.
Meanwhile, another victim was recovered from the floods in Greendale, a western suburb of Sydney. Authorities said the 50-year-old probably drowned. On Tuesday, a 67-year-old woman and her 34-year-old son were found dead in the water in Wentworthville, not far away. More than 20 people have died in Queensland and New South Wales since the extreme weather began at the end of February.
In Sydney it rained almost continuously for two and a half weeks. Meteorologists spoke of the wettest start of the year in Australia’s largest city since weather records began in 1858. Because of the rising water levels in the rivers, the authorities had issued evacuation orders and warnings for about a dozen suburbs on Tuesday. Around 60,000 people were affected.
It stayed mostly dry on Wednesday. And for the coming days, the meteorologists predicted only little precipitation for the area.
As a result of the flooding, the otherwise shimmering blue water in the world-famous Sydney Harbor was colored brown. According to the region’s environment ministry, the sea off many of the city’s beaches “from Palm Beach down to Cronulla” is polluted and full of flotsam. Many places have therefore advised against swimming in the ocean.
New storm warning
In Queensland, meanwhile, there was a new storm warning for the entire coastal region from Mackay to the border with New South Wales. The region with the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and the metropolis of Brisbane, which is also popular with tourists, would have to be prepared for “gigantic hail, destructive winds and intense rain”, quoted the transmitter 9News Jackson Browne from the weather office.
A slow-moving low-pressure system was responsible for the historical floods. In some areas it has rained as much in a few days as it normally does in a whole year. Many roads and bridges have been destroyed, houses and pastures devastated.
Australia is particularly hard hit by climate change. From August 2019 to March 2020, catastrophic bushfires had devastated millions of hectares of land. And just a few weeks ago, Western Australia was still sweating under a relentless heat dome. Values of more than 50 degrees were recorded in some cases. dpa
