Australians assess flood damage, accelerate clean-up

Water levels that have caused widespread damage across the country’s east has  receded as authorities cancele more than a dozen flood evacuation warnings on Friday.

Clean-up efforts were ramped up across large parts of New South Wales (NSW) state with military personnel joining the state’s emergency services to clear debris from roads and bridges, and deliver food and other supplies to cut-off communities.

The floodwaters that submerged large swathes of the state are a stark contrast to the drought and catastrophic bushfires that burned through many of the same regions just over a year ago.

Five days of incessant rain triggered the worst floods in more than half a century in NSW, Australia’s most populous state, cutting off entire towns and washing away homes, farms and livestock.

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated during the deluge, which at its peak a few days ago subjected around 40% of the country’s population of 25 million across an area the size of Alaska to weather warnings.

The rural crime unit of the NSW police force said it had received an increase in reports of wandering livestock, and urged people to file reports on lost, found and straying animals.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned the recovery process would be “challenging” due to the scale of the rainfall received over the past week.

The Insurance Council of Australia, the main industry body, said more than 25,600 insurance claims worth about A$385 million($293.1 million) had been lodged by Friday and it expects more to be filed.

NSW state emergency services said evacuation warnings and orders now cover around 20,000 people in the state, down from 85,000 at the peak of the wild weather system.

Australia’s weather bureau said moderate flooding would continue in Sydney’s western suburbs and northern regions of NSW state over the weekend but it expects the river levels to gradually recede further.

MTO/Reuters