Australia grapples with floods as relief, warnings swell frustration

Three days of steady rain on Monday wreaked havoc in southwestern New South Wales, the largest state, cutting off entire rural towns, some of them in the wheatbelt region, for the second time this month and causing hundreds of people to be evacuated from rooftops.

Eastern Australia has suffered frequent flood damage over the past two years due to a multi-year La Niña weather event, usually associated with increased rainfall. Some areas have experienced four major flood crises since last year.

Television footage showed a resident of Eugowra, one of the hardest-hit towns, confronting state Premier Dominic Perrottet during a tour of the devastated area, blaming authorities for slow relief and warnings of delays. lead to bad temper.

“We had no food, no clothes, no one knew what was going to happen next because no one was here. Before I go on, what’s your answer to some of these questions,” resident Peter Jones was heard asking Perotitt.

“It’s not good enough,” Perotite responded, to which Jones said, “It’s not the answer.”

The skies were clear earlier in the week, but emergency workers say the danger has not passed.

“There are still significant risks,” NSW Emergency Services Director Ashley Sullivan told ABC television. “We’re going to see a significant impact over the next 24 to 48 hours.”

Emergency crews continued the search for two men believed to be missing in the floodwaters Friday morning.

Forbes, home to about 8,000 people, is likely to remain flooded for at least the next three days as the Lackland River reaches its highest level in nearly 70 years, Sullivan said.

Further downstream in Condobolin, population about 3,000, residents are bracing for record flooding. In Hay, the Marambiji River has exceeded levels reached during the 1974 flood, the Bureau of Meteorology said.