La Nina: Eastern Australia faces flood threat

As much of the nation prepares for abnormally high rainfall in the coming months due to a third consecutive La Nina weather pattern, Australia’s weather forecaster issued a warning on Saturday regarding probable catastrophic floods in portions of New South Wales.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that “severe flooding” inundation was expected at the towns of Gunnedah and Wee Waa late on Saturday. New South Wales is the most populous state in Australia.

Australia has recently been severely affected by the effects of climate change, suffering from floods, sweltering temperatures, shifting fire and rainfall patterns, increasing sea levels, and ocean acidification.

Carlene York, the state’s emergency services commissioner, informed the media on Saturday that 12 flood rescues had been carried out throughout the previous night.

The meteorological bureau announced on Tuesday that parts of Australia would experience exceptionally heavy rains in the next months, indicating that a third consecutive La Nina weather period was underway and would likely extend until 2023.

In Queensland and New South Wales, tens of thousands of people were forced to flee due to severe weather in March, which also caused town centres to be inundated, homes to be washed away, and power outages.

When many people are still rebuilding after the floods, the La Nina event puts the heavily populated east coast on notice.

York issued a warning that the storm season would be more intense from October to March due to heavier precipitation brought on by the La Nina weather.

There in the neighbourhood, the threat of floods is actual, the speaker declared. “Over the past 12 to 18 months, the weather has been nonstop rain.”