Australian authorities today urged people in parts of the New South Wales state capital Sydney to move to higher ground due to the risk of flooding as a result of heavy rains, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
New South Wales authorities said this morning that 12 emergency evacuation orders were in place, including several in Sydney. There were areas of “dangerous flooding” in the city of more than 5 million people.
44 people were rescued from the rising waters, and in the last 24 hours there were 4128 phone calls for help.
Flood rescue teams, aircraft and rescue vehicles have been pre-deployed and continue to respond to incidents.
The flooding was caused by torrential rains that lashed southeastern Australia yesterday. An amount of rain has fallen which is almost equivalent to a month's worth of rainfall in Sydney.
People were warned to avoid travel and stay indoors.