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On Friday, thousands of people were urged to leave towns in three different states after flash floods inundated hundreds of homes in southeast Australia. Victoria, the second-most populated state in Australia, was experiencing severe floods, forcing residents of the Melbourne district of Maribyrnong to leave their homes. Some stranded people had to be rescued by inflatable rescue boats, while cars left on the suburb’s streets were nearly totally submerged by the floods.
The Anglers Tavern, a bar located along the Maribyrnong River, had water on the first level.
500 homes in Victoria had been “inundated,” said to state leader Daniel Andrews, while another 500 residences were encircled by floodwaters and shut off from help.
The state emergency agency said that although the brunt of the storm had gone by late Friday morning, the floods will worsen as water poured downstream into overflowing river catchments.
By the start of next week, roughly 4,000 properties in Shepparton, which is two hours north of Melbourne, may see flooding, according to Wiebusch.
The Australian army is being sent to some parts of Victoria, according to emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp, to assist locals in sandbagging their homes before floodwaters reach.
People would be housed at an abandoned Covid-19 quarantine facility with a capacity for 1,000 people.
“Lives in danger”
Tasmania, an island state south of Victoria, was likewise prepared for significant flooding on Friday in its northern regions.
Orders for widespread evacuation were issued, and 120 roads had to be closed due to heavy rain.
Following heavy rains on Thursday evening, an evacuation centre was established in New South Wales, the state with the highest population in Australia, in Forbes, an interior town five hours’ drive east of Sydney.
According to the emergency agency for New South Wales, flooding in Forbes may reach its climax on Friday as water flows downstream.
Due to consecutive La Nina episodes, Australia’s east coast has seen significant rainfall on numerous occasions during the past two years.
More than 20 people lost their lives in the east coast flooding tragedy in March, which was brought on by powerful storms that ravaged regions of Queensland and New South Wales.
When floods once more inundated the suburbs surrounding the city in July, tens of thousands of Sydney residents were given the order to leave.
La Nina episodes are not caused by climate change, but because warmer air contains more moisture, experts think it might make times of floods more severe.
