Flash floods have inundated hundreds of homes in south-east Australia and residents are now facing an “agonizing” wait to assess the damage.
A major flood emergency has been declared in Victoria, Australia’s second most populous state, where rapidly rising waters have forced the evacuation of the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong.
Cars abandoned on suburban streets were almost entirely swallowed up by floodwaters, while some stranded residents had to be rescued by inflatable lifeboats.
State Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters that 500 homes in Victoria had been “flooded” while another 500 properties were surrounded by flooding and cut off from emergency services.
“That number will definitely grow,” he said, reports RTE.
Though the worst of the rain had passed by late morning local time, the state emergency department warned that flooding would worsen as water flowed downstream into swollen river basins.
“There are not many parts of Victoria that aren’t experiencing major flooding over the coming days,” Tim Wiebusch, spokesman for the emergency services, told RTE.
Although flooding began to recede in parts of Melbourne, the worst was yet to come in other parts of the state.
Around 4,000 homes in Shepparton, about two hours north of Melbourne, could be flooded early next week, Wiebusch said.
Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the Australian military was deployed to help residents throw sand in their homes.
A disused Covid-19 quarantine center with a capacity of 1,000 people would serve as a shelter.
Northern parts of Tasmania, an island nation south of Victoria, were also bracing for major flooding. Mass evacuation orders were issued while heavy rain forced about 120 streets to be closed.
In New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, an evacuation center was set up in Forbes, an inland town about a five-hour drive east of Sydney, after torrential downpours last night.
The east coast of Australia has been repeatedly battered by heavy rains fueled by successive La Niña cycles over the past two years. More than 20 people died in the east coast flood disaster in March, which was caused by severe storms in Queensland and New South Wales.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents were ordered to evacuate in July as floodwaters swept the outskirts of the city again. Climate change isn’t causing La Niña events, but scientists think it could make flood seasons more extreme because warmer air holds more moisture.
Maribyrnong resident Leah Caluzzi spent the morning collecting sports equipment from the local cricket club.
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