SYDNEY (AP) – Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales, issued more evacuation orders on Sunday after the worst flood in decades.
New South Wales State Emergency Services responded to 640 requests for help on Saturday night, including 66 for flood rescues.
New South Wales Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian said hundreds of people had been rescued from the waters.
Evacuation orders have been issued at several locations on the North Central Coast, in the northeast of the state, which Berejiklian said was going through an event every 100 years, and “although we don’t think things are going to get worse in the Middle North Coast, definitely conditions will continue, then the rains will continue in the parts that have already been affected. ”
Berejiklian also said that parts of western Sydney are being hit by a weather event that occurs in a year out of 50, with some locations registering more than 300 millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain since Friday morning, breaking records .
The Warragamba dam, west of Sydney, began to overflow on Sunday and so far, 13 evacuation centers have been opened across the state. More evacuations are expected, as the bad weather is expected to last until the middle of the week.
Local authorities are asking people not to drive in flooded areas, as they can easily be dragged by strong currents.