After heavy rains, the south-east of Australia has again been hit by floods. The AAP news agency reported that several people had already been rescued from the floods on the island of Tasmania, which belongs to Australia, and in the state of Victoria. Heavy rain had started on Thursday night on the island as well as in Victoria and the state of New South Wales bordering to the north.
As a result, rivers flooded and isolated landslides occurred, the AAP further reported. According to the AAP, almost 10,000 households in the metropolis of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, were without electricity during the night. Photos showed cars up to their hoods in water. Victoria’s Prime Minister Daniel Andrews called on people not to drive or walk through the flood waters.
Australia’s east coast has been hit by exceptionally heavy rainfall and flooding several times this year. At the beginning of July, areas in the city of Sydney in the state of New South Wales were flooded meters high, and in March there were also severe floods around the metropolis and in large parts of New South Wales and Queensland.
A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from February 2022 assumes that Australia will be hit by devastating natural events even more frequently in the future. Stronger heat, more dangerous fires, more droughts and floods, higher sea levels and drier winters are to be expected.
