Hundreds ordered to evacuate as floods hit Sydney
21 March, 2021
Thousands of people in Sydney's outer suburbs were ordered to evacuate Sunday, as Australia's east coast was strike by record rainfall and widespread flooding.
Emergency products and services issued the evacuation orders for several low-lying areas found in the city's northwest, a good working day after authorities warned of potentially "life-threatening" flash floods in New South Wales state.
People had already begun flocking to evacuation centers found in towns north of Sydney as torrential rains on Saturday pummeled a good vast coastal place already soaked by a great unusually wet summer.
In Taree, where television images showed one residence floating down a bloated river, about 150 people slept in a local auditorium overnight which has previously been used a refuge for folks fleeing bushfires.
Club Taree chief executive Paul Allen described the floods as being a "catastrophe", telling community broadcaster ABC that some locals had "lost everything".
The heavy rains were forecast to go straight down the coast over the weekend, with the wild weather forecast to persist until as late as Thursday.
The Warragamba Dam, which provides much of the normal water for Sydney, spilled over Saturday afternoon in what authorities likely to be the first significant overflow of the reservoir since 1990.
Emergency services reported getting more than 1,000 calls for help and undertaking about 100 flood rescues overnight Saturday into Sunday.
The rain and floods were expected to delay the already halting roll-out of coronavirus vaccines in Sydney and encircling areas.
The country is due to begin the first major public phase of vaccine distribution on Mon although this program has slipped behind the government's announced timetable due to source and delivery issues.
Source: japantoday.com