Extreme rainfall continues, half a million Australians may have to flee

Once again, thousands of Australians have been asked to leave their homes due to flooding. Evacuation orders or warnings are now in effect for 500,000 Australians on the East coast.

At the end of last week, heavy rains began in the northeast of the country, in the state of Queensland. Brisbane is also there. In three days, 80% of the rain that normally falls in a year fell. At least ten people died†

The storm has now moved largely southeast into the state of New South Wales, which includes Sydney. Extreme rainfall is expected to continue for some time.

“It Gets Worse First”

Today between 5 and 25 centimeters of rain is expected in New South Wales. In some places, 20 centimeters can fall in less than six hours. Normally, there is about 14 centimeters of rain during the whole month of March.

State Premier Dominic Perrottet said the severity of the flooding since last year to go past. It’s the worst flooding in 60 years: “We think it will get worse before it gets better.”

West of Sydney, the Warragamba dam was flooded with 600 billion liters of water. 130,000 homes are at risk of being affected by the waters. 250 schools in New South Wales have been closed due to flooding.