Australia declared a national emergency on Wednesday in response to devastating flooding along its east coast, designating disaster zones in towns swept away by swollen rivers due to rain in recent days.

The emergency declaration, takes as a reference the one established after the Australian bushfires in 2019 and, according to the Government of Canberra, will help reduce bureaucracy and speed up aid amid criticism over the slow response to flooding in the provinces. that at least 21 people have died.

Tens of thousands of people from Sydney and Brisbane and nearby regional areas have been forced to flee their homes due to extreme rains and persistent flooding that have wreaked havoc on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean mainland island.

The flooding disaster across Southeast Queensland and NSW is absolutely devastating. While the cleanup and recovery is well underway for some, many areas particularly around Lismore remain isolated, with rescues still underway and critical supplies being airlifted in.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) March 7, 2022

Tuesday’s flooding left hundreds of people stranded in Australia’s most populous city, Sydney, just as the central business district began to recover from the lifting of restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Residents in parts of New South Wales state, including in Sydney’s northern beach suburbs, were forced to evacuate as roads were cut off and amid concerns about a dam overflowing.

Two La Niña seasons in 2021 and 2022 brought unusually wet summers to Australia’s east coast and put a spotlight on climate change ahead of national elections in late May.

Officials said military personnel deployed to help with flood cleanup operations would be doubled to 4,000 troops.