Flash floods inundated hundreds of homes in south-east Australia and thousands of people were warned to flee the surging waters threatening cities in three different states on Friday.
A major flooding emergency was unfolding in Victoria – Australia’s second most populous state – where rapidly rising waters forced evacuations in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong.
Cars abandoned on suburban streets were almost entirely swallowed up by the floodwaters, while some stranded residents had to be rescued by inflatable lifeboats.
The ground floor of the Anglers Tavern, a pub on the banks of the Maribyrnong River, was flooded.
Head of state Daniel Andrews told reporters 500 homes in Victoria were “flooded” while another 500 properties were surrounded by flooding and cut off from emergency services.
“That number will definitely increase. We have helicopters in the air at the moment doing damage assessments,” Andrews said early Friday afternoon.
While the worst of the rain had passed by late Friday morning, the State Emergency Service warned that flooding would worsen as water flowed downstream into swollen river basins.
“Our flood emergency here in Victoria continues to escalate,” emergency services spokesman Tim Wiebusch told reporters.
“There aren’t many parts of Victoria that aren’t experiencing major flooding in the coming days.”
About 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 Army is being deployed to parts of Victoria to help residents sandbag their homes before flood waters arrive.
“This is a major emergency for the state of Victoria,” he said.
A disused Covid-19 quarantine center with a capacity for 1,000 people would be used to house people.
– “Life in Danger” –
Northern parts of Tasmania – an island nation south of Victoria – also braced for major flooding on Friday.
Mass evacuation orders were issued while heavy rains forced the closure of about 120 streets.
“Life is at risk from flooding,” Tasmania’s State Ambulance Service said in a statement.
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 heavy downpours on Thursday night.
The New South Wales Emergencies Service said flood levels in Forbes could peak on Friday as water moved downstream.
Australia’s east coast has been repeatedly battered by torrential rains driven by successive La Nina cycles over the past two years.
The east coast flooding in March – caused by severe storms that devastated parts of Queensland and New South Wales – claimed more than 20 lives.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents were ordered to evacuate in July as renewed flooding swept the city’s Fridge suburbs.
Climate change isn’t causing La Nina events, but scientists think it could make periods of flooding more extreme because warmer air contains more moisture.
