Source: DW
Australian authorities ordered on Tuesday (03.01.2022) the evacuation of some 40,000 people due to flooding on the east coast of the country, which has claimed the lives of nine people and 11 remain missing.
The torrential rains that have fallen since the beginning of last week in the regions of Queensland and New South Wales have left a trail of devastation, not yet quantified, and submerged cities such as Brisbane, the third most populous in the country, and the town of Gympie , as well as Lismore, 600 kilometers north of Sydney.
In Lismore, where many residents had to shelter for hours on the roofs of their houses, as well as in other towns on the north coast of New South Wales, there have been a thousand rescues, said the head of the New South Wales government, Dominique Perrottet, at a press conference in Sydney.
Perrottet, who announced that 17 jurisdictions have been declared disaster areas, also explained that 26 evacuation orders have been issued, affecting some 40,000 people, and another five evacuation alerts, which affect another 300,000 residents.
“At the moment we are focusing on the north, but quickly, as we are already beginning to see in Sydney, the strong and severe rains are moving south,” warned the politician, referring to the forecast of heavy rains starting tonight in the Australia’s most populous city.
At least nine people have lost their lives (eight in Queensland and one in New South Wales) from this disaster and another eleven remain missing (two in Queensland and nine in New South Wales).
“Our priority is to make sure that all those people are found and are safe,” said the mayor of Lismore, Steve Krieg, this morning on local television channel 7, noting that they keep 400 rescue operations open.
In some parts of Queensland the waters have begun to recede and clean-up tasks have begun, which have affected some 15,000 homes, although the authorities have problems distributing the aid by land and there is concern about the possible arrival of new storms. .
gs (efe, reuters, afp)
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