The record-breaking floods have had a “devastating impact” on remote towns in Australia’s outback, the country’s Prime Minister said today.
Helicopters evacuate people to safety as flood waters mount in Western Australia’s sparsely populated Kimberley region.
While the worst of the rain has subsided, some cities could be isolated for the next few days.
Emergency services called the unfolding disaster “the worst flooding event” the state has ever seen.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was difficult to reach some of the waterlogged areas.
“These floods are having a devastating impact,” he told reporters, reports RTE.
One of the hardest-hit towns was Fitzroy Crossing, where residents had to wait for the muddy runway to dry before military planes could bring in supplies.
According to the authorities, the Kimberley region covers a land area three times the size of the United Kingdom but has fewer than 40,000 inhabitants.
Australia has been repeatedly battered by torrential rains driven by successive La Nina weather cycles over the past two years.
Flash floods hit parts of eastern Australia in November last year, ripping entire houses from their foundations in some rural towns.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents were ordered to evacuate in July as floods swept the outskirts of the seaside city.
And an east coast flood in March, caused by storms in Queensland and New South Wales, killed more than 20 people.
Australian researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change is increasing the risk of natural disasters.
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