Australia Flood Toll Rises to 20, Sydney Braces For ’Tough 48 Hours’

By Staff, Agencies

The death toll from devastating floods in eastern Australia rose to 20 on Tuesday, after two more bodies were discovered in floodwaters in Sydney, reports said.

According to police, the two latest victims – a man and a woman – were “suspected” to be a missing mother and son whose car was abandoned in a storm water canal.

Thousands of people in Sydney, Queensland, and New South Wales [NSW] have been rendered homeless amid heavy downpours and record-breaking floods that have taken a heavy toll on people.

More than 60,000 Sydney residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes with emergency services warning of "a tough 48 hours" for Sydney, the capital of NSW.

The uninterrupted rainfall across Sydney has swept away farms, ripped up roads and power lines. People have also been complaining about slow relief and recovery efforts.

More than 2000 residents living in the vicinity of Manly Dam in the city’s north have been asked to evacuate as the dam has begun to overflow following two weeks of incessant rain.

In the riverside suburb of Georges Hall, vehicles were seen submerged and police had to rescue people stranded in their cars, according to reports.

State emergency services have been struggling in the face of the unprecedented deluge, with flood warnings in place Tuesday for the entire 2,000-kilometre coastline of New South Wales.

The scale of the damage to property and wildlife, he noted, was similar to the devastating bushfires that ravaged eastern Australia east in late 2019 and early 2020.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison in an interview with radio station 2GB on Monday called the floods “terrible.”