500,000 People In Australia Told To Evacuate Due To Historic Flooding
Newsy
People in Sydney and surrounding areas have been told to prepare to flee floodwaters as torrential rain lashes the Australian coast.
Emergency officials in Sydney are warning hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate as heavy rains are flooding a large swath of Australia's east coast.
Rivers were rising in Australia’s most populous city, home to 5 million people, with New South Wales' State Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke warning of “treacherous weather conditions” over the next 24 hours.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology warned of life-threatening flash flooding and damaging winds with peak gusts in excess of 56 miles an hour. The State Emergency Service issued evacuation orders to 200,000 residents and evacuation warnings had been sent to another 300,000. Minor flood warnings were also issued for coastal communities as far as 120 miles south of Sydney.