Flash floods cut off inland Australian towns, residents flee to rooftops
SYDNEY, May 21 (Reuters) - Heavy rain in Australia's southeast triggered flash flooding and cut off entire towns on Wednesday, stranding some residents on the roofs of their homes, as authorities issued snap evacuation orders with rivers staying above danger levels.
Rural towns in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, were the worst hit from the downpour, with some areas receiving more than four months worth of rain over the past 24 hours.
"We have seen an enormous amount of rainfall," New South Wales Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib told reporters.
"We've got a situation here where the rain really has been falling quite heavily and quite hard, and it hasn't been moving away. Part of that is because the ground is saturated and another part is also because the rivers are swollen."
In its latest update, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said some areas could receive up to 300 mm (12 inches) of rain over the next 24 hours, three times the mean total for May.
Images shared on social media showed some residents sitting inside their homes ankle-deep in water waiting for rescue crews.
In the towns of Taree and Glenthorne, which sit along the Manning River more than 300 km (186 miles) north of Sydney, some residents were trapped on verandas and roofs with emergency crews struggling overnight to access the area by boat or air, authorities said.
"We didn't expect this amount of water," Glenthorne resident Jordan Halloran told ABC News.
"Our neighbours will have to go onto the roof next and if we're not rescued, I would say we will have to make our way to the roof as well."
New South Emergency Services Commissioner Mike Wassing said emergency crews were giving top priority to rescuing vulnerable people and those who could not leave their homes.
"The current focus (will be on) people that are actually on roofs or in other cases might be on the second story of their home," Wassing said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
7 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Flooded Cork dad is now an 'unwilling amateur weather expert'
A Cork father whose home was destroyed by flooding said the constant threat of rising rainfall is affecting his mental health. Alan Mahy is now constantly monitoring the weather forecasts and has called on Met Éireann to issue flood warnings as well as wind and rain warnings in forecasts. Advertisement His calls come after the release of the first ever national climate change risk assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency, which says that the country is facing 'immediate critical risks from extreme weather events " In recent months, the dad of four girls had to erect flood gates outside his home while celebrations were ongoing inside for his daughter's seventh birthday. When Alan and his wife Orla moved to a detached home in Midleton in December 2021, they thought they had found their dream home, until Storm Babet hit in October 2023. "I've become an unwilling amateur expert now at reading the river and river gauges," he said. Advertisement Before Babet, "I was on holidays when my neighbour rang to say that the river level was now higher than the bridge used by eleven homes on the lane. The same bridge collapsed under the force of the flood. Water was already in our home at this point, and it was too late to do anything. "18 months after the flood, if water gets to our driveway, others know to start panicking. "We are now the flood warning system for Midleton." The family home was destroyed, with the ground floor under over three feet of water and the house was under-insured for what they lost. Advertisement "The kid's toys, floors, kitchen units, sofas, everything you can imagine was destroyed and we had to rent somewhere to live for almost four months while repairs were being carried out." Alan Mahy with his daughters at a protest in May 2024 Early interim flood measures have been put in place by the local authorities, but Alan believes it could take up to ten years to fully implement the Midleton Flood Relief Scheme. "About 1600 tonnes of gravel and stones that were raising the river levels were removed by the local council outside our home, and we are very grateful for that. "In other parts of Midleton, there have been temporary flood defences put in place, in the form of large sandbags along the riverbank. Advertisement "But I firmly believe there should be a flood warning system like they have in the UK and other countries. "A yellow rain alert might not seem a lot, but if it is on top of days and days of rainfall, then that yellow rain alert might be all that is needed to send the river into flood and threaten my home." Alan admits that the constant watching of rainfall measures has affected his mental health. "We are trying to put on a brave face for our daughters. Every time there is heavy rain, they are asking if the house is going to be flooded again. Advertisement "It is obviously on their minds as well, and during the birthday party, I took the precaution of putting up sandbags and flood gates because I was worried about the heavy rainfall after four days of rain. "Unfortunately, my prediction was right; the heavy rainfall over the previous week meant the river was too high to cope with the yellow warning for rainfall. "In actual fact, the rain that fell that night wasn't too much, but it was enough to raise the river level above the river bank. The county council came to our aid with sandbags. "When the river breaks the banks and comes up the driveway, I have to move the cars to higher ground and be on alert all the time. We feel embattled in our own home. "Carlow Weather, as far as I'm concerned, was the only forecaster to correctly predict how bad Babet would be. A few days in advance of Babet, he was warning East Cork for risk of bad floods – he was correct, and yet there were no actions taken by the authorities to prepare for the worst. "Constantly watching the forecasts and monitoring the river levels is just exhausting, and it is no way for a family to live." Alan O'Reilly from Carlow Weather has been consistent in his calls for a flood alert system in the country and sent his latest email to government ministers in January. In the email, he says: "We are going to see more extreme weather in the coming years, especially flooding, and we still have no flood warning system or any real dedicated resources for weather event responses. "We need far more weather stations recording data, especially rainfall data in the upland areas that feed the rivers." Measures he has outlined include flood response teams as well as groups trained to assist ESB networks with power restoration in terms of clearing roads and trees and replacing poles. He also called for military drones to be deployed after storms to map flooded areas, fallen power lines and blocked roads and feed information to local authorities and a dedicated national weather emergency app for real-time alerts and information on power outages, emergency hubs and road closures. In a statement, Cork County Council say: "Regarding flood warnings, Cork County Council relies on Met Éireann forecasts and the National Directorate for Fire & Emergency Management (NDFEM). "Locally, information received from Met Éireann and NDFEM is augmented by river gauge trends and reports from area engineers and considered by Cork County Council's Severe Weather Assessment Team. "The Severe Weather Assessment Team convenes as soon as a significant risk of severe weather becomes apparent and meets regularly thereafter at least until the risk has abated. The team advises and coordinates the relevant sections within Cork County Council regarding risk and response, including press releases and social media posts to help keep citizens informed."
Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Ultra rare 'Harbinger of Doom' fish seen as a sign of looming natural disaster washes up on Australian beach
A rare 'doomsday' nine-foot-long oarfish has washed up on a beach in Tasmania. The sea creature was discovered on Ocean Beach on the western coast of the Australian island on Monday by dogwalker Sybil Robertson. Robertson, who estimates the fish was about nine feet in length, said of the rare find: 'It was fantastic. I just knew it was something unusual and weird.' Oarfish are often interpreted as a bad omen when seen outside of their natural habitat in the depths of the ocean. Robertson said she did not know how rare the fish was until she shared images of the sea creature on a local Facebook group, which show the enormous silver fish washed up on the sand. The post was then re-shared on social platform Reddit and quickly went viral, with several Internet users commenting on the potential meaning of the fish, which has been linked to anticipating catastrophic events in Japanese mythology. 'The ocean is very unhappy with humanity's disdain for it', one user commented. Another said: 'We're seeing a lot of these rare "doomsday" fish washing up these days, aren't we?'. 'The world DOES seem to be ending more frequently lately', a third wrote. Oarfish can measure up to 36 feet in length and weigh over 441 pounds. Legend has it they are harbingers of earthquakes or other natural disasters. The rare sighting in Tasmania comes months after an oarfish washed up on a beach in the Canary Islands. The sea creature was discovered on February 10 on the coast of Playa Quemada in Lanzarote by bathers, and sparked fears online. A video of the sea creature went viral on Instagram, showing how a man goes up to the silver fish to rescue it. The sighting on the Spanish island came just weeks after a similar fish sparked fears on a beach in Mexico. Surfers spotted the creature on the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. The massive fish, about as long as a surfboard, featured a silvery-blue body with a stunning red fin trailing down its back but had an injured tail.
The Guardian
15 hours ago
- The Guardian
Extreme weather weighs on Australian economy as growth slows to 0.2%
The Australian economy has had an underwhelming start to the year, with growth of just 0.2% in the first three months of 2025 compared to 0.6% in the previous quarter. Annual growth was steady at 1.3%, the new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed. Katherine Keenan, the ABS's head of national accounts, described the latest data as 'soft'. 'Public spending recorded the largest detraction from growth since the September quarter 2017,' Keenan said. 'Extreme weather events reduced domestic final demand and exports. Weather impacts were particularly evident in mining, tourism and shipping.' GDP per capita fell 0.2% in the three months to March, after a 0.1% rise in the December quarter. Treasurer Jim Chalmers in a statement immediately following the release said 'with all the uncertainty in the world, any growth is a decent outcome'. Despite the marked slowdown, Chalmers said 'the Australian economy remains one of the strongest in the world'. 'Public demand has played a role in keeping the economy from going backwards over the past two years, but we know strong and sustainable economic growth is driven by the private sector,' he said. Cyclone Alfred, the first cyclone to hit south-east Queensland in 50 years, and associated flooding, weighed on economic activity through the three months to March. Treasury has estimated that natural disasters through the first half of 2025 will deliver a $2.2bn blow to the economy, concentrated in the first quarter of the year. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's aggressive trade tariffs continue to reverberate around the world, with the Reserve Bank flagging that the heightened uncertainty over the outlook as a major factor in its decision to cut interest rates. More details soon …
