A man who was swept down a swollen creek became the first casualty Sunday from floods inundating Australia’s New South Wales state as hundreds more people were evacuated due to heavy rainfall.
Swathes of the state have been battling flooding for several days although the rainband that has dumped up to 200 millimetres of water was forecast to ease by Monday.
‘People have been asked to leave their homes overnight as intense rainfall fell in southern and southeastern parts of the state,’ state emergency service commissioner Murray Kear told reporters.
‘But just as we’re standing under sunny skies, they will be under sunny skies tomorrow.’ The body of a 43-year-old man was recovered after he and two friends became trapped when attempting to cross a creek late Saturday, the police said.