Sydney, March 9 (BNA) Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said today, Wednesday, that the floods that devastated the east coast of Australia will declare a national emergency, as the authorities look to deploy urgent aid and supplies to the most affected areas.
Morrison, while visiting the stricken city of Lismore in northern New South Wales, also pledged more financial support to individuals and businesses affected by weeks of rain that inundated towns and rural suburbs across Sydney.
The emergency declaration, put in place after the devastating 2019 bushfires in Australia, will help cut red tape and expedite assistance from defense personnel amid criticism of the slow response to floods that killed 20 people.
“The feedback we have received … has helped us identify where the gaps are now, and how we can quickly get support to where it is needed,” Morrison said in a statement. He said the government had recommended the governor-general to declare the floods a national emergency.
Media reports said Morrison, who is trailing in polls ahead of the federal election ahead of May, on Wednesday made private visits to a flooded farm and emergency crew office and also met someone who had lost their home.
Television footage showed some people gathering in front of the emergency operations center, where Morrison was due to visit, chanting “Water is rising, no more bargaining” and “Fossil fuel floods.”
Morrison’s conservative government late last year adopted a net-zero carbon goal by 2050, but climate activists are calling for tougher action.
Two years ago, Morrison was criticized for taking a family vacation to Hawaii during a fire emergency, and was later harassed by angry residents in a bushfire-hit town over fire service funding and a lack of help.
A swathe of Australia’s east coast was inundated after a second intense low pressure system in several weeks caused a rapid rise in floodwaters that cut off entire communities and trapped many people trapped in their homes.
Frustrated residents, without access to electricity and internet for days, blamed the authorities for the slow pace and scale of relief efforts.
Significant flooding has continued in Sydney’s western suburbs, although thousands of residents in northeastern Sydney have returned home after the rains have receded.
“Fortunately, the rains have eased and we will see the water level continue to slowly recede in the coming days,” Dean Naramor, a meteorologist with the Met Office, told reporters.
The eastern coast of Australia was dominated by the La Nina weather phenomenon, which is usually associated with significant rainfall, with most rivers near their capacity even before the last inundation.
Official data showed Sydney received nearly 900 mm (35 inches) of rain so far in 2022, or about 80% of annual precipitation, the wettest start to a year since records began.
MI