Record-breaking floods carved a destructive path through eastern Australia on Friday, smothering homes in silt, washing out roads, and leaving 50,000 people stranded without access to help.
Four bodies have been recovered from the floodwaters engulfing parts of northern New South Wales — a fertile region of rivers and valleys about 400 kilometres (250 miles) north of Sydney.
Salvage crews began preparing a large-scale cleanup operation as the waters started to recede Friday morning, following an intense deluge that dumped half a year’s worth of rain in just three days.
“So many businesses have had water through and it’s going to be a massive cleanup,” said Kinne Ring, mayor of the flood-hit farming town of Kempsey.
“Houses have been inundated,” she told ABC. “There’s water coming through the bottom of houses. It’s really awful to see, and the water is going to take a bit of time to recede.”
State Emergency Service chief Dallas Burnes said more than 2,000 personnel were involved in rescue and recovery efforts. “A real focus for us at the moment will be resupplying the isolated communities,” he said, adding that 50,000 people remained cut off.
Rescue crews have pulled more than 600 people to safety since the waters began rising earlier in the week. Many had to climb onto cars, rooftops, and highway overpasses before being winched out by helicopters.
Although flood levels were easing, Burnes warned that the stagnant lakes of muddy water continued to pose risks, including hidden snakes that may have entered homes seeking shelter.
“Floodwaters have contaminants. There can be vermin, snakes. You need to assess those risks. Electricity can also pose a danger as well,” he said.
‘Horrific circumstances’
The storms dumped over six months’ worth of rainfall in just three days, setting new flood-height records in some areas, according to the government’s weather bureau.
“These are horrific circumstances,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday as he visited the disaster zone. “The Australian Defence Force will be made available. There’s going to be a big recovery effort required. There’s been massive damage to infrastructure and we’re going to have to all really pitch in.”
In Taree, business owner Jeremy Thornton described the “gut-wrenching” flooding as among the worst he’d witnessed. “It is pretty tough, we’ve had a few moments but you have to suck it up and push on,” he told AFP. “We are reliving it every second — hearing the rain, hearing the helicopters, hearing the siren.”
Residents reported seeing dead cattle washed up on beaches after rivers swept livestock from inland pastures. The government has declared a natural disaster, unlocking additional resources for affected communities.
From the arid interior to the tropical coastline, Australia has recently been battered by a string of extreme weather events. The oceans surrounding the country have been “abnormally warm” in recent months, the weather bureau reported — a factor that can increase moisture in the atmosphere and fuel heavier rainfall.
Although individual weather events are difficult to link directly to global warming, scientists say climate change is already intensifying extreme weather patterns.
Flood modelling expert Mahdi Sedighkia said this week’s disaster provides “compelling evidence” of how climate change could reshape regional weather systems.
Source: Al Arabiya
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