Tens of thousands of Sydneysiders were ordered to evacuate their homes on Tuesday (03/08/2022) as severe storms flooded much of Australia’s largest and most populous city.

The national weather service warned of a “tough 48 hours ahead” in the city, with 60,000 people subject to evacuation orders in the affected areas, according to emergency services.

A week of “unprecedented” flooding on Australia’s east coast has left 18 people dead, as police continue the search for a woman and her son whose car was found abandoned in a canal in floodplain Sydney.

800 people are in shelters

In the north of the state of New South Wales, where the waters destroyed houses, swept away cars and isolated hundreds of residents on their roofs, a long clean-up process began.

Some 800 people remain in emergency shelters in one region of the upstate alone, Emergency Commissioner Charlene York said.

In Mullumbimby, a town that was left without phone service, internet and help for days, local resident Casey Whelan said many people on his street “can’t buy flood insurance.” “They won’t have a way to rebuild,” he lamented.

Scientists say that climate change is increasing and intensifying extreme weather events in Australia, such as floods, fires, cyclones or droughts.