Residents evacuated as rain continues to lash parts of Australia

After battling months of deadly wildfires, Australia is now facing another wrath of nature as authorities on Sunday issued an order asking thousands of people to evacuate from their homes in New South Wales as rain lashed several parts of the country. New South Wales State Emergency Service issued a warning on Sunday asking people living around the Hawkesbury river at North Richmond Lowlands to evacuate. 

Read: Australia: Incessant Rains 'breaking The Back' Of Devastating Bushfires

New South Wales State Emergency Service asked people to seek higher grounds as they issued a flood evacuation order especially for people living in Moorebank, Chipping Norton, Milperra, Pitt Town Bottoms, Richmond Lowlands, Gronos Point and low lying areas along the Georges River. New South Wales SES on Saturday warned residents across Sydney, the Illawarra and South Coast to prepare for potential flooding as a coastal trough off the NSW coast continued to move south. 

Read: Rain Extinguishes Australian Wildfire And Causes Flooding

Schools and businesses have remained closed after flooding was seen in the Sydney suburb of Narrabeen. According to reports, the recent flooding has beaten the last serious influx of water in 2016. As per reports, flooding is also affecting evacuation routes and authorities have warned that those who didn't evacuate would be trapped and that help would take time to reach. Hundreds of SES volunteers have come out to help and are working round the clock to assess the damage. Public transport has also faced serious damage with train lines ruined and bus travel nearly impossible in the storm. As per Australian power companies, at least 1,50,000 homes and properties are facing repeated power cuts. 

Read: Australia: Heavy Rains In East Coast Extinguish Fires, Cause Flash Floods

Australian wildfires

Heavy rains lashed parts of Australia after the country was ravaged by bushfires for the entire summer last year. Fires across southern Australia have claimed at least 33 lives and destroyed more than 3,000 homes and razed more than 10.6 million hectares (26.2 million acres) of land. Australia had been gripped by ravaging bushfire since September 2019 and the damage has been so dreadful that it had been dubbed as the worst in recorded history. The bushfire this season was seemingly unprecedented as an estimated 480 million animals and over 9,000 koalas have been affected by the inferno. 

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