Australia: Storm front floods houses and farms (video)

Heavy rains continue to hit Australia’s east coast. Flash floods submerged hundreds of homes and farms. The weather conditions had moved south from the state of Queensland in the past week, cutting off entire cities from the outside world. Australian authorities asked more people to leave their homes on Thursday. There is now a flood warning in the area surrounding Sydney, Australia’s largest city. Around 500,000 people are likely to be ordered to evacuate. More than a dozen people have died since the floods began a week ago.
The east coast of Australia is currently dominated by the La Nina weather pattern, which is often associated with increased precipitation. However, the increase in flooding is most likely due to climate change, says Nina Ridder, of the University of New South Wales’s Center for Climate Change Research. “We have observed an increase in heavy rain events over the last few decades. Not only has their number increased, but so has the amount of rain we have experienced during these events. This is most likely due to climate change, for several reasons Take the rise in atmospheric temperature, for example. Air can hold seven percent more water for every degree it warms.” The Australian Meteorological Service warns of further heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours.