Some Australians

return home as
others evacuated in
floods crisis
SYDNEY (REUTERS) - Australians hit by devastating floodwaters began returning to
their homes on Thursday (March 25) as skies cleared and authorities accelerated clean-
up efforts, though fresh evacuation orders were issued in some areas where water levels
were still rising.

Relentless rains for five straight days – the worst downpour in more than half a
century –burst river banks inundating homes, roads, bridges and farms and cutting off
entire towns in Australia's east.

More than 40,000 people were forced to move to safe zones and two men were killed
after their cars became trapped in floodwaters.

Water continued to flow from overloaded dams and rivers on Thursday, particularly in
New South Wales state, leading authorities to urge caution.

“Even though the sun is now shining, the danger has not passed,” the Australian Bureau
of Meteorology said in a statement.

Rising floodwaters from the Mehi river split Moree, a regional town 650km northwest of
Sydney, into two, emergency services said.

Moree resident Jaimee Maunder said the main road into the town had been cut, and
that she had not been able to leave her home since the flooding intensified on Tuesday.

“We got some supplies before the floods hit,” Maunder told Reuters, adding that people
in lower-lying areas had been evacuated to emergency facilities in the town. “You can’t
drive through it, not when it’s flooding.”

The damage is more limited in the flat agricultural plains around Moree, where the
drenching is expected to prime farmland ahead of the planting window next month for
wheat, the country’s most important crop.
Major flooding also continues in Sydney’s western suburbs of North Richmond and
Windsor, while fresh evacuation orders were issued for some areas in the centre of the
state.

Still, there were some signs of relief as rescue teams, including defence force personnel,
took advantage of eased conditions in several areas to clear debris and deliver supplies.

"The best advice I've received this morning is that most of the river systems we believe
have peaked," New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian said during a televised
news briefing.

"And now we are considering... which communities are able to return back in the next
few days, and we just ask for everybody's patience."

Around 40 per cent of Australia’s population of 25 million was affected by the severe
weather system that stretched across an area the size of Alaska in recent days, touching
every mainland state or territory but one.

Several evacuation orders have been lifted, but there were still around 20,000 people
waiting in rescue centres, Berejiklian said.

Two people died after their vehicles became trapped in floodwaters as authorities
continued to warn people not to drive through the deluge.

Images of the devastation have included rescues of families by boat, stranded cattle and
submerged houses.

Fridges, lounges, pillows and even a spa bath washed away in the floods were spotted on
the beaches, footage on social media showed, as muddy waters from the Hawkesbury
river, a major waterway north of Sydney, reached the Tasman Sea.

The Insurance Council of Australia, the main industry body, said about 17,000 damages
claims worth about A$254.2 million (S$260.1 million) had been lodged by Wednesday
morning.