![Australia floods force tens of thousands to evacuate](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/89/b1/8d/Australia-floods-force-tens-of-thou-664405.jpg)
-
US defends law forcing sale of TikTok app
-
Messi out for defending champ Miami as Leagues Cup begins
-
Australia bans uranium mining at Indigenous site
-
Divers attempt to reach sunken Philippine oil tanker
-
Trump accuses Harris of anti-Semitism in overblown speech
-
Coughlin clings to lead at LPGA Canadian Women's Open
-
Trump offers tech sector policy flips ahead of election
-
Spacecraft to swing by Earth, Moon on path to Jupiter
-
What's the fallout of Mexican drug lords' capture?
-
Video game makers see actors as AI 'data,' says union on strike
-
Chinese qualifier Shang to face Thompson in ATP Atlanta semis
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
-
Brazilian dunes dotted with dazzling pools make UNESCO heritage list
-
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
-
French Rugby's Jaminet suspended 34 weeks after racist video: Federation
-
Osaka looking to turbo-charge comeback at Paris Olympics
![Australia floods force tens of thousands to evacuate](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/89/b1/8d/Australia-floods-force-tens-of-thou-664405.jpg)
Australia floods force tens of thousands to evacuate
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents have been told to evacuate their homes as severe storms and flash flooding inundated swathes of Australia's largest city Tuesday.
The national weather bureau warned of "a tough 48 hours ahead" for the city, with 60,000 people subject to evacuation orders and warnings across the affected areas, according to emergency services.
The death toll from a week of what officials have called "unprecedented" floods across much of Australia's east coast rose to 18 on Tuesday, as police continued to search for a mother and son whose car was discovered abandoned in a stormwater canal in Sydney's flood-hit west.
"It's very much the watery equivalent of the 'Black Summer' bushfires," emergency services spokesperson Phil Campbell told AFP.
In the past week the scale of the damage to property and wildlife was similar to those devastating bushfires, he said, which ravaged Australia's east for months in late 2019 and early 2020.
"We have also had a similar effect on communities in terms of dislocation with roads closed, infrastructure damaged, power outages," Campbell said.
In the northern reaches of the state of New South Wales -- where floodwaters last week destroyed homes, washed away cars and stranded hundreds of locals on their roofs -- the long, slow cleanup is underway.
There are 800 people in emergency accommodation in the state's Northern Rivers region alone, state emergency services commissioner Charlene York.
In Mullumbimby, a town cut off from phone service, internet and outside help for days, local Casey Whelan told AFP that "lots of people in my street can't get flood insurance".
"They will have no way to rebuild," he said.
Australia has been at the sharp end of climate change, with droughts, deadly bushfires, bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef and floods becoming more common and intense as global weather patterns change.
J.Oliveira--PC