Some 60,000 residents of Australia's largest city were told to evacuate their homes on Tuesday, ahead of flash flooding in many parts of the city, according to emergency services.
The torrential rains that battered Sydney submerged bridges, flooded homes, swept away cars and the roof of a supermarket collapsed.
Rescue services were stretched to the limit on Tuesday as torrential rains and severe storms continued to sweep across New South Wales state for the second week in a row.
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These floods are "the aquatic equivalent of the unprecedented forest fires" that ravaged Australia for months in 2019 and 2020, Phil Campbell, spokesman for the emergency services, told AFP.
The violent weather, which began last week, caused damage to property and wildlife similar to that caused by these fires, he added.
“They have the same consequences for the population: closed roads, damaged infrastructure and power cuts,” he said.
In the past 24 hours, rescuers have received around 100 calls for help and this figure was expected to rise on Tuesday.
Nearly half of the 5,000 homes devastated by flooding following the disaster are now uninhabitable.
Mullumbimby, a city located south of Brisbane, has been cut off from the rest of the world for several days, without telephone, internet or any outside help, resident Casey Whelan told AFP.
"Many people in my street cannot be compensated by insurance (...) they will have no means of rebuilding," he lamented.
Australia has been hit hard in recent years by climate change: droughts, deadly bushfires and floods are becoming more frequent and intense.