Two more people have died in the heavy rain in Sydney as flood warnings extend across Australia’s east coast.
In Sydney’s west, a man’s body has been recovered from an abandoned car and a woman’s body was found close to an abandoned vehicle, the ABC reports.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore says minor to major flooding was occurring from the Queensland to Victoria border, with flooding exceeding 2021 levels.
While the rain is set to ease overnight, Mr Narramore warned of damaging winds particularly around the Illawarra escarpment and through the Sydney metropolitan area and coastal communities.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton says the NSW SES was simply overwhelmed by the flooding in northern NSW.
“In some ways, the ADF has been frustrated because the SES has been overwhelmed with the number of calls,” he says at a news conference.
“In NSW, it’s not a flood but it’s more akin to what we saw in Grantham (in 2011), a huge surge of water. More than 2000 homes have been destroyed, that level of response is going to take years.“
Dutton says the ADF had done 113 rooftop rescues in northern NSW and would continue to do more over coming days and weeks.
“We will continue to put more assets in where normally that would be a state government responsibility,” he said.
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