Sydney, March 6 (BUS): Sydney, Australia’s most populous city that has been inundated for days, braced for more heavy rain on Sunday as the death toll from floods in the east of the country rose to 17.
A wild weather system that dumped more than a year of rain over a week in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales (NSW) has caused widespread devastation, displacing thousands of people in states and eroding property, livestock and roads.
Police said 17 people have died since the flood began, including a Queensland woman whose body was found on Saturday.
The New South Wales Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said the new weather system could bring another round of torrential rain across NSW, of which Sydney is the capital, increasing flood risks.
“We are, unfortunately, facing a few more days of continuous wet and stormy weather that will be extremely dangerous for the people of New South Wales,” Jane Golding, a meteorologist in the London office, said in a television briefing.
In northern New South Wales, the Clarence River has remained at a significant flood level, but Golding said severe weather likely looks clear from Wednesday onwards.
In Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, and surrounding areas that were hit by severe storms last weekend and inundated several thousand properties, clean-up work continued over the weekend.
Authorities said on Sunday the recovery process would take months, while they donated more than A$2 million ($1.5 million) to various charities.
“For an event that only lasted three days, it would have a huge impact on our economy and our budget,” Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick said at a press briefing.
HF