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Sydney hit by torrential rains as flood warnings stretch across Australia's east
Australia's eastern rivers were already near capacity following record downpours in several parts of Queensland and New South Wales states over recent weeks, cutting off towns, and sweeping away farms, livestock and roads.
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A resident looks at cars stranded in floodwaters due to heavy rain in southwestern suburb of Sydney on March 8, 2022. (AFP/Muhammad Farooq)
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lood warnings stretched across Australia's east coast on Tuesday and tens of thousands of Sydney residents fled their homes overnight as torrential rains again pummelled the country's largest city, causing flash floods.
Australia's eastern rivers were already near capacity following record downpours in several parts of Queensland and New South Wales states over recent weeks, cutting off towns, and sweeping away farms, livestock and roads.
A man and a woman were found dead on Tuesday near an abandoned car in a stormwater canal in western Sydney, authorities said, while Queensland police confirmed the death of a man missing in floods since Feb. 27, taking the death tally to 20 since the deluge began. Most people were found dead either in flooded homes or in cars attempting to cross flooded roads.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore said minor to major flooding was occurring from the Queensland to Victoria border, a distance of more than 1,555 kilometres (966 miles).
"A tough 24 hours or even 48 hours ahead," Narramore said during a media briefing on Tuesday as he forecast up to 120 mm (5 inches) of rains across Sydney over the next 24 hours, with the storm expected to clear by late Wednesday.
Heavy rains lashed Sydney overnight with some suburbs receiving up to 200 mm since Monday morning, exceeding March's mean rainfall of around 140 mm, triggering flash flooding and snap evacuation orders in the southwest of the city.
Television footage showed flooded roads and homes and stranded cars, as well as the collapse of a city supermarket roof.
