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SYDNEY: Just days after wildfires threatened an Australia World Heritage site, thousands of people were preparing for flooding on the subtropical east coast on Sunday (December 13), with beaches closed and authorities urging people to take out their houses with sandbags.
With up to 475 millimeters of rain in the preceding 24 hours, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a “severe weather advisory” for the border area between the states of New South Wales and Queensland, a densely populated area that includes the state capital of Queensland, Brisbane.
A week earlier, nearby Fraser Island was evacuated due to wildfires, dashing hopes that wetter weather would make seasonal fires less catastrophic than last year. Scientists attribute the erratic weather in early Australian summer to a La Niña pattern, which typically features heavy rainfall, combined with climate change.
Fraser Island, the world’s largest sand island, is now under a flood warning, which includes urging drivers to avoid roads where the waters were already rising.
READ: Australia wildfires ravage a heritage island
“These are dynamic weather systems and you should always expect the unexpected,” the office’s lead flood hydrologist, Justin Robinson, told a news conference.
The warning comes shortly after Queensland opened its border with the neighboring state after months of closure due to COVID-19. Authorities urged people traveling during the year-end holidays to exercise caution, as they may not be familiar with flood-prone areas.
“This is no time to take a chance and drive through those floods,” said New South Wales Commissioner of Emergency Services Carlene York. “Be aware of your surroundings and where your camper may be parking or driving.”
Emergency services had rescued four people, some of them from cars trapped in flooded roads, and received about 700 calls for help, he said.
On the densely populated Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, authorities closed beaches due to dangerous surf, while emergency services established several places where people could stock up on sandbags.
