Status: 10/14/2022 7:18 am
In Australia, heavy rainfall causes flooding again. Victoria is particularly affected. The state’s head of government warned that it was far from over.
Thousands of people in three states in south-east Australia have been asked to leave their homes because of the flooding. The situation was worst in Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state.
Maribyrnong, a suburb of Victoria’s capital Melbourne, was flooded in the morning, the authorities said. Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews told ABC Radio that his government was planning to open a corona quarantine center as an emergency shelter.
“This was a very, very significant flood event and it’s far from over,” Andrews said. The water continues to rise “and more and more houses are flooded, more and more communities are cut off from the outside world”.
“The floods are life-threatening”
The north of the island of Tasmania, off Victoria, was also preparing for flooding. “The floods are life-threatening,” warned the Tasmanian Disaster Management Agency.
In the most populous state of New South Wales, after heavy rains, an evacuation center was set up in Forbes, an inland city about five hours’ drive east of the metropolis Sydney.
Third flood this year
Flooding has been a regular occurrence on Australia’s east coast for the past two years. In March, flooding in parts of the states of Queensland and New South Wales caused major damage. More than 20 people died.
In July, an evacuation order was issued for tens of thousands of Sydney residents because of flooding that inundated several suburbs of Australia’s largest city.