Lagatar24 Desk
Sydney, March 8: After the bodies of a man and a woman were discovered in floodwaters in Sydney on Tuesday, the death toll from the week-long floods that have ravaged Australia’s east coast soared to 20.
The pair was thought to be a missing mother and son whose car had been abandoned in a stormwater canal, according to police.
Severe rains and flash flooding swamped swaths of Australia’s largest metropolis on Tuesday, forcing tens of thousands of Sydney residents to flee their homes.
Sydney faces “a difficult 48 hours ahead,” according to the national weather bureau, with 60,000 people facing evacuation orders and warnings, and the city’s Manly Dam beginning to spill.
Intense rain swamped bridges and residences around Sydney, carried cars away, and even collapsed the roofs of a shopping mall and a supermarket.
Vehicles were partially buried in the riverfront neighbourhood of Georges Hall, and police had to rescue people trapped in their automobiles due to rising floodwaters.