Heavy rains and dangerous floods in Australia

Australian Civil Defense warns of life-threatening flash floods in the eastern part of the country due to heavy rains that are now and will continue.

Dozens of people have already been rescued from the floods, and large numbers of people in the NSW lowlands have been ordered to leave their homes and take refuge. NSW police say hundreds of people have already taken refuge in shelters north of Sydney.

Highways have been closed in many places due to flooding, and the NSW water supply system warns that there will be flooding this weekend as excess water is dumped through several dams.

Over the past 48 hours, up to 600 millimeters of precipitation have fallen.