MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate southwest Sydney, Australia’s biggest city, on Sunday with torrential rain pounding the east coast and threatening floods in areas that were hammered in March.
The weather bureau warned of heavy rainfall potentially leading to flash floods and landslides along the east coast region north and south of Sydney in New South Wales state, with rain expected to intensify over the next few days.
“If you remain in the area you may be trapped without power, water and other essential services and it may be too dangerous to rescue you,” New South Wales State Emergency Service (SES) said in evacuation orders for the Sydney southern region.
The Australian government has provided the state with 100 troops and two helicopters to aid with any rescues, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Sky News.
The heavy rains caused a dam in southwestern Sydney to spill overnight, water authorities said, adding that modelling showed the spill would be comparable to a major spill in March 2021 at the same dam.
(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by David Gregorio)
