The east coast of Australia continues to be swept by torrential rains, having caused major flooding earlier this week in Queensland, but also in northern New South Wales. The human toll is increasing as flooding now threatens some neighborhoods in Australia’s largest city, Sydney.
With our correspondent in Sydney, Gregory Plesse
The deluge that has been falling since almost a week in Australia has already claimed 12 lives and forced more than 150,000 people to flee their homes, while the historically high level of rainfall observed on the east coast of the country continues unabated.
In Queensland, where the damage caused by flooding are estimated at more than 600 million euros, extremely strong winds are expected, but also episodes of hail from Wednesday.
Preparing for a possible evacuation
Several towns in northern New South Wales are still under water and the Warragamba dam, Sydney’s main source of drinking water, began to overflow overnight. On Wednesday morning, emergency services called on residents in the city’s southwest to prepare to evacuate.
” It is very important for people living in this area to be aware of the risks to their community, to be prepared, if an evacuation order is given, to leave their homes and it is imperative that you put your plans into action for your your own safety, that of your family and your pets “, explains Dominic Perrottet, who leads New South Wales. He calls residents to maximum vigilance and he also expects the human toll to increase.
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