The crisis began in the sparsely populated Kimberley region of Western Australia state last week as a result of a previous tropical storm, which was accompanied by heavy rainfall.
“Water is everywhere,” state emergency services minister Stephen Dawson told reporters in Perth, the Western Australian capital.
“People in Kimberley are enduring flooding that had a one percent chance of happening…the worst in Western Australia,” he added.
He stated that the flood waters buried areas of up to fifty kilometers in some areas, and that it “covers the entire horizon.”
These emergency weather conditions come after repeated floods in the east of the country during the past two years due to the El Niño phenomenon that occurs every several years.
Reuters quoted the Australian Meteorological Authority, on Sunday, that the floods had led to the isolation of towns.
The town of Fitzroy Crossing, with a population of about 1,300, was among the hardest hit, and supplies had to be flown in after floodwaters inundated roads.
The Met Office said precipitation decreased as the previous storm moved east into the Northern Territory, but warned that “record-breaking large floods” could continue in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
State emergency services warned residents in other small communities of rising waters in the area, which includes the resort town of Broome, about 1,240 km north of Perth.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Saturday’s flooding as “devastating” and pledged federal assistance.
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