As portions of NSW and Victoria battle massive floods, Australia’s east coast is once again expected to see heavy rain and violent thunderstorms this weekend.
A low pressure system coming over the nation is expected to produce four days of “severe” rain that will cover more than 2,000 km from central Queensland to NSW, Victoria, and Tasmania.
On Thursday, ‘heavy’ rain, destructive winds, and ‘huge’ hail were predicted for the area west of the Great Dividing Range, extending from Townsville to the NSW border.
In the middle of the alert zone, Emerald, which received 135mm of rain on Wednesday, has recorded the wettest October day on record.
The region near Moree in northern New South Wales will get the most rain, and Bureau meteorologist Dean Narramore warns that flooding is a worry there.
Inland areas of north-eastern NSW and south-eastern Queensland may see some heavier rainfall, according to Mr. Narramore, who predicted that there would be widespread falls of 25mm to 50mm over the next four days.
“We might witness isolated falls in certain locations of above 100mm,” the report said.
Major flood warnings are also in effect for a number of rivers in NSW and northern Victoria, including the Murray River.
The meteorologist said, “We’re worried heading into the weekend as fresh falls are expected to lead to renewed river rises.”
The east coast will have extensive precipitation on Thursday, according to Mr. Narramore, and rain and thunderstorms will return on Friday.
Eastern Queensland, NSW, and portions of a Victoria that has already been devastated by flooding are all expected to see severe thunderstorms, huge hail, destructive winds, and heavy rainfall.
Additionally, South Australia’s south-eastern region, from Port Pirie to Renmark close to the Victorian border, may see extremely severe rain.
The Bureau cautioned that “heavy rainfall throughout interior South Australia may possibly cause to flash floods.”
Even while Tasmania will get a significant amount of the rain, it should avoid the worst of it.
Rain will fall in Perth and Darwin as well, with only the northern areas of Western Australia staying completely dry during the weekend.
In advance of the anticipated more rain, residents of Australian communities affected by flooding intensified efforts on Wednesday to construct levees and sandbag houses.
An severe weather system this week caused flash floods by dropping over a month’s worth of rain in just two days across large portions of Victoria state, southern NSW, and northern Tasmania.
Officials are pleading with citizens to leave numerous inland towns in NSW and Victoria because flood levels are still rising around them before they are shut off.
Some locals, especially those in the Victorian rural town of Echuca, are now experiencing their second round of floods in a week.
At response to concerns that the Murray River, Australia’s biggest river, may surpass a near 30-year high later this week, a dirt levee has been constructed in Echuca, roughly 250 km north of Melbourne.
Defence force members worked with locals in the adjacent town of Moama in southern NSW, across the state boundary. They sandbagged houses.
Grain Producers Australia said that this year’s crop was “on a knife’s edge” amid worries about more floods, reiterating government statements about the financial toll that flooding takes.