Australia Floods Swallow Cars, Houses Submerged, Melbourne Faces Emergency

Thousands were warned to flee their homes in southeastern Australia on Friday to escape surging floodwaters threatening towns across three separate states.

Flash floods swept hundreds of homes in southeast Australia and thousands of people were warned to flee as rising waters threaten towns across three separate states on Friday.

A major flood emergency was unfolding in Victoria - Australia's second most populous state - where it quickly -

Rising waters forced evacuations in the Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong.

Cars left in the suburb's streets were almost completely swallowed up by the floods, while some stranded residents had to be rescued by inflatable rescue boats.

The ground floor of the Anglers Tavern, a tavern on the banks of the Maribyrnong River, was underwater.

State leader Daniel Andrews told reporters that 500 homes in Victoria were "submerged", while flooding surrounded another 500 homes and cut off emergency services.

"That number will definitely go up," Andrews said early Friday afternoon. "We have helicopters in the air at the moment assessing the damage."

While the worst of the rain fell late Friday morning, the state emergency service warned that flooding would get worse as water flows downstream into the swollen river catchment.

"The flood emergency here in Victoria continues to escalate," emergency services spokesman Tim Wiebusch told reporters.

"There aren't many parts of Victoria that don't experience major flooding over the coming days."

Wybush said about 4,000 homes in Shepparton, about two hours north of Melbourne, could be submerged early next week.

Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the Australian military was being deployed in parts of Victoria to help residents put sandbags on their homes before floodwaters arrived.

"This is a major emergency for the state of Victoria," he said.

An abandoned Covid-19 quarantine center with a capacity of 1,000 people will be used to house people.

life at risk

As the northern parts of Tasmania prepare -

It is an island state south of Victoria - Friday for major floods.

Mass evacuation orders were issued, while heavy rains forced the closure of about 120 roads.

"Lives are at risk of flooding," the Tasmanian State Emergency Service said in a statement.

in New South Wales -

Most populous state in Australia -

An evacuation center was set up after heavy rain Thursday evening in Forbes, an inland town about a five-hour drive east of Sydney.

The New South Wales Emergency Service said flood levels in Forbes could peak on Friday as water moves downstream.

The east coast of Australia has frequently experienced heavy rainfall in the past two years, driven by successive La Nina cycles.

The East Coast flood disaster in March - caused by severe storms that devastated parts of Queensland and New South Wales - killed more than 20 people.

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