Tens of thousands of evacuations and at least 20 dead due to storms on the east coast of Australia

Tens of thousands of people in eastern Australia have been forced to leave their homes due to severe weather. Since the end of last month, there have been floods as a result of heavy rainfall. At least twenty people have been killed so far, writes the Australian newspaper The Australian Tuesday.

The states of Queensland and New South Wales have been hit hard. Houses are flooded. There is no electricity and internet in several places. Roads are closed and many trains are not running. The Australian Meteorological Institute expects the rain to last at least until Thursday.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called this “terrible flooding that no one has ever seen” during an interview with Australian radio station 2GB on Monday. Dominic Perrottet, the Prime Minister of New South Wales, said during a visit to the flood plains that recovery could take years, Reuters news agency reported. Two thousand houses in the state are said to have been destroyed.

According to Nina Ridder, a researcher at the University of NSW Climate Change Research Center, the heavy rainfall was caused by two successive La Niña weather systems. That says the researcher to news site ABC. La Niña is a weather phenomenon that occurs when the Pacific Ocean near Australia warms while the water in the Pacific Ocean near South America is unusually cold. The phenomenon can cause extreme rainfall.

Typically, La Ninã occurs only once every three to seven years. It is very unusual for Australia to face La Niña two years in a row.