Sydney braces for flash floods as rain disaster moves south

The torrential rain is forecast for Australia’s largest city and surrounding areas late Wednesday and early Thursday, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said

Sydney was preparing on March 2 for dangerous flash flooding as population centres farther north began a massive cleanup operation after record floods that have claimed at least 14 lives along Australia’s east coast in recent days.

The torrential rain — as much as 20 centimetres (8 inches) — is forecast for Australia’s largest city and surrounding areas late Wednesday and early Thursday, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology said.

“In the Sydney area, we have minor to major flood warnings current,” meteorologist Dean Narramore said.

In the New South Wales town of Lismore, 600km (370 miles) north of Sydney, a fourth death was confirmed on Wednesday as floodwaters drain from homes and searchers knock on doors. The body of a man, aged in his 70s, was found in a flooded apartment, a police statement said.

The population of 28,000 people was inundated when Wilsons River peaked on Monday afternoon at its highest level since records began in 1880. Authorities expect the death toll to rise in Lismore and its surrounding areas.

Dozens of suburbs remain flooded in Brisbane, Australia’s third-most populous city 750km (470 miles) north of Sydney, after the river that snakes through its centre peaked on Monday. The Queensland state capital had received 80% of its average annual rainfall within a few days.

The cleanup effort is under way and 8,000 volunteers had enlisted for what is known as the Mud Army, which helps those who were inundated. Queensland has accounted for nine of the deaths from the flooding disaster that has resulted from a low-pressure system that is moving south.