CNA – Australia’s weather forecaster said yesterday that record-breaking floods in the country’s northwest had now left many communities isolated, as the days-long crisis continued.
The emergency in the Kimberley – an area in Western Australia state about the size of California – was sparked this week by severe weather system Ellie, a former tropical cyclone that brought heavy rain. The town of Fitzroy Crossing, a community of around 1,300 people, has been among the worst hit, with supplies having to be airlifted in due to flooded roads.
The Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday that rain had eased as the ex-cyclone shifted eastwards to the Northern Territory, but warned that “record-breaking major flooding” continued in the Kimberley.
“Many roads are impassable and many communities are now isolated,” the forecaster said on its website. State emergency authorities have warned residents in other small communities of rising water in the region, which includes the resort town of Broome, about 2,000 kilometres north of the state capital, Perth.
The flooding is the state’s worst on record, authorities have said, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Saturday described it as “devastating” and pledged federal assistance.
