Sydney: Australia’s biggest city Sydney, has asked its 30,000 residents here to be prepared to vacate or leave their homes for fear of flooding due to heavy rains.
Incessant rains since Friday have led to dams filling up and breaching of river embankments. Five million people in the city are facing a flood emergency for the fourth time this year.
Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the floods could be even more dangerous than the three floods in these areas 18 months ago. New South Wales state chief Dominic Perrott said 32,000 people had been affected by the flood so far. This number may increase further.
He informed that relief operations are going on in the flood affected areas. Australia’s Meteorological Bureau’s Manager Jane Golding said some areas between Newcastle, north of Sydney, and Wollongong, south of Sydney, have received more than a meter (39 inches) of rain in the past 24 hours. Some areas have also recorded 1.5 metres (59 inches) of rain.