Some 60,000 residents of Australia’s biggest city have been told to evacuate their homes, ahead of sudden flooding in many parts of the city, according to emergency services.
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The toll is growing in Australia. The floods that have hit the east coast of the country for a week have killed at least 20 people, authorities announced on Tuesday March 8 after the bodies of a woman and a man were discovered in Sydney. They would be the two people wanted since their car was found in the middle of floodwaters, according to the police. Some 60,000 residents of Australia’s largest city were told to evacuate their homes on Tuesday, ahead of flash flooding in many parts of the city, according to emergency services.
The torrential rains that battered Sydney submerged bridges, flooded homes, swept away cars and the roof of a supermarket collapsed. The Manly dam in the north of the city began to overflow on Tuesday and 2,000 residents were told to evacuate. Rescue services were stretched to the limit on Tuesday as torrential rains and violent storms continued to sweep through the state of New South Wales for the second week in a row.
The Australian Meteorological Agency has issued a call for vigilance for the next 48 hours. “difficult”. Flood alerts have been issued along all of the state’s 2,000 kilometers of coastline. These floods are “the aquatic equivalent of forest fires” which ravaged Australia for months in 2019 and 2020, Phil Campbell, spokesman for the emergency services, told AFP. “They have the same consequences for the population: closed roads, damaged infrastructure and power cuts”according to him.