Australia to declare east coast floods a national emergency

On Mar 9, 2022

Australia’s prime minister on Wednesday said, he would declare a national emergency following floods across large swathes of the east coast that have claimed 22 lives.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement during a visit to flood-devastated Lismore in northern New South Wales state, where four people died last week.

Morrison said in a statement, “The national emergency declaration, will ensure all our emergency powers are available and that we cut through any red tape we might face in delivering services and support on the ground.”

It is the first such declaration since a law was passed in December 2020 in response to catastrophic wildfires during the previous Southern Hemisphere summer.

Extraordinarily heavy rains have created the current emergency in New South Wales and Queensland states. Some of the flooded communities were battling fires two years ago.

The declaration means flood victims won’t have to provide identification documents to receive support payment and in some circumstances the federal government can act independently in areas where the state governments haven’t requested help.

Floodwaters peaked in Brisbane, the Queensland capital and Australia’s third-most populous city, on Feb. 28 after it was inundated by 80% of its usual annual rainfall in the previous three days.

More than 20,000 homes and businesses had been flooded in southeast Queensland and 13 people died.

Reuters