Australia suffered the worst flood in two decades

East Australia has witnessed the worst flood in 20 years, causing thousands of people to be trapped. Parts of the country's most populous state, New South Wales, have been isolated because of heavy rain. The state government has declared a natural disaster in some areas.

A similar situation also occurred in north Queensland. The flooding has now subsided but some officials have warned that many resident communities may be isolated in a few days.

Flooding in New South Wales
(Photo: ABC)

Rainstorms that occurred last weekend brought heavy rainfall to Australia's east coast. Many rivers have overflowed. Roads become lakes and many bridges are washed away. Most towns in the north are isolated. Hundreds of people were forced to leave their homes because of the flooding. In some areas, the provision of food and other necessities to the trapped people must be used by helicopters.

"About 3,000 people are still isolated because of the flood," New South Wales State Emergency Agency spokesman Phil Campbell said. According to Campbell, some places may be isolated for about a week.

About 700 music festival attendees on an island near the town of Tenterfield in the northeast of the state were trapped due to flooding of bridges. " These people have been isolated for three days today, and today will be in such a state, maybe tomorrow things get better when traffic is restored ," Campbell said.

Other parts of Australia are also experiencing extreme weather patterns. Heavy rain caused Queensland southeast to sink. Many beaches were closed during a busy vacation due to bad weather. In the Northern Territory, Darwin has just experienced a tornado in the weekend. Trees were uprooted, electricity and water workers struggled with repairing lines and supply pipes.

2007 is considered to be one of the record dry years in Australia.

(Photo: AFP)

United Mail