Sydney floods force thousands more to flee

SYDNEY: Rain-swollen rivers spilled mud-brown waters across swathes of Sydney on Tuesday, swamping homes and roads while forcing thousands to flee.

The authorities have now instructed about 50,000 people to evacuate and another 28,000 to prepare to escape the rising waters in New South Wales, officials said. Emergency workers carried out 142 flood rescues in New South Wales over 24 hours, they said, with the support of 100 army troops deployed to the state.

Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change, with droughts, deadly bushfires, bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and floods becoming more common and intense as global weather patterns change.

Higher temperatures mean the atmosphere holds more moisture, unleashing more rain. With much of the ground already sodden, the water rose rapidly in worst-hit areas and was soon lapping around the walls of some homes in the western Sydney suburbs. "All of a sudden it just came up so quick," said resident Gordon Lee after parts of his western Sydney suburb of Shanes Park were engulfed overnight.