Heavy rainfall for days has caused widespread flooding in coastal areas of the Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales. Thousands of people were ordered to evacuate as the situation worsens due to one of the worst flooding that the country hasn’t seen in a 100 years.
Hundreds of people have been rescued from floodwaters. Around 18,000 people had been evacuated from flooding in New South Wales by Monday (March22).
Up to 38 parts of the state had been declared natural disaster areas. Thousands of people have been affected with 40 flood warnings and 20 evacuation orders along the state’s Mid North Coast, and in western Sydney. Houses have submerged and many communities had lost power.
This flood comes just a year after unprecedented climate-change bushfires burned across New South Wales, which followed a prolonged drought that had also seen Sydney introduce water restrictions.