The death toll from week-long floods battering Australia‘s east coast rose to 20 on Tuesday, after the bodies of a man and a woman were discovered in floodwaters in Sydney.
Police said it was “suspected” the pair are a missing mother and son whose car was abandoned in a stormwater canal.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents have been told to evacuate their homes as severe storms and flash flooding inundated swathes of Australia’s largest city Tuesday.
The national weather bureau warned of “a tough 48 hours ahead” for Sydney, with 60,000 people subject to evacuation orders and warnings across the affected areas, according to emergency services.
Intense rainfall across Sydney flooded bridges and homes, swept away cars and even collapsed the roof of a supermarket.
The Manly Dam, in the city’s north, began to spill Tuesday, with 2,000 residents told to evacuate.
In the riverside suburb of Georges Hall vehicles were semi-submerged and police had to rescue stranded in their cars by rising floodwaters.
A ‘watery’ Black Summer
State emergency services have been stretched thin as the torrential rain and intense storms continued into a second week — with flood warnings in place Tuesday for the entire 2,000-kilometre (1,250-mile) coastline of New South Wales.
“It’s very much the watery equivalent of the ‘Black Summer’ bushfires,” emergency services spokesperson Phil Campbell told AFP.
Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change, with droughts, deadly bushfires, bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and floods becoming more common and intense as global weather patterns change.
Source: eNCA
In other news – Actress Natasha Thahane is pregnant
Former Skeem Saam actress Natasha Thahane is expecting her 1st with soccer star boyfriend Thembinkosi Lorch.
The stars made headlines last year when tweeps uncovered their romantic getaway in Tanzania. Despite having been pictured together, the two have often denied being a couple. Learn more
