Flash floods destroy hundreds of homes in southeast Australia

Flash floods have destroyed hundreds of homes in Australia’s southeast region, with thousands of people being warned to stay away from raging rivers and raging waters threatening cities in three separate Australian states.

A major flood emergency has been issued in Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, where rapidly rising waters have forced the evacuation of the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong.

Cars that were left on the streets of the suburbs were almost completely swallowed by the flood, while some residents of the area had to use inflatable rescue boats to escape the flood.

State leader Daniel Andrews told reporters on Friday that 500 homes in Victoria had been flooded while another 500 homes were surrounded by floodwaters and emergency measures were being taken.

Andrews said that the number of flood-damaged homes is certain to rise.

He said rescue forces are assessing the amount of damage caused by the flood by using helicopters in the air.

It was the worst of the rain until late Friday morning, but the state emergency service warned that flooding would worsen in the coming hours as water moved downstream into river catchments.

Emergency services spokesman Tim Wiebusch told reporters that the flood emergency in regional Victoria was continuing to intensify.

Flooding is expected to cover almost all parts of Victoria in the coming days, he said.

Southeast Australia hit by floods, residents flee

Australia

About 4,000 homes in Shepparton, two hours north of Melbourne, could be flooded in the early days of next week, Wiebusch said.

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the Australian Army had been deployed to parts of Victoria to help residents protect their homes with sandbags before the flood arrived.

“This is a major emergency for the state of Victoria,” he said.

A center that was previously used for the quarantine of coronavirus patients with a capacity of 1000 people has been used to shelter the people of the region.

The northern parts of Tasmania, an island located south of Victoria, were also preparing for large and sudden floods on Friday.

Houses and public places have been ordered to evacuate in these areas, while heavy rains have closed around 120 roads.

The Tasmanian State Emergency Service announced in a statement that the lives of people in the region are in danger due to flooding.

Australia’s east coast has been repeatedly hit by torrential rains over the past two years, led by La Nina cycles.

More than 20 people were killed in the East Coast torrential rain disaster in March caused by severe storms that ravaged parts of Queensland and New South Wales.

Tens of thousands of Sydney residents were ordered to evacuate their homes in July after flooding again engulfed suburbs on the city’s glacier.

Scientists believe that climate change may not cause natural events like La Nina, but it could make flooding episodes more severe because warmer air holds more moisture.

Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change with extreme weather including downpours, droughts and wildfires becoming more frequent and severe as global weather patterns change.

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