Thousands asked to evacuate due to floods

The Heavy rain Connect in Australia. On Friday, October 14, authorities called on several thousand Australians to evacuate their homes in the southeast of the country to escape the floods that threaten the localities of three different states.

Rapidly rising waters submerged Maribyrnong, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The government of this state, the hardest-hit and second most populous in Australia, is preparing to reopen a Covid-19 quarantine center to house people whose homes were previously uninhabitable.

Northern Tasmania, located on an island in the south of the country, is bracing for major flooding on Friday. Evacuation orders were issued and heavy rains forced the closure of about 120 roads.

In New South Wales, the country’s most populous state, an evacuation center was set up after heavy rain Thursday evening in Forbes, an inland town about five hours down the road east of Sydney.

Australia is on the front line facing the consequences of climate change, with floods, bushfires, cyclones and droughts becoming more frequent and severe as the planet warms.