Some parts of Australia are feeling a bit of weather whiplash after months of drought and devastating bushfires have now been followed up with some of the heaviest rainfalls in 30 years.
New South Wales, one of the areas hardest hit by the nation’s bushfires, had to evacuate some areas due to flooding.
Over a 24-hour period, the region saw more than 7.9 inches (200 millimeters) of rain. In four days, Sydney received 15.4 inches (391.6 millimeters) of rain, making it the most rain the city has seen since 1990, CNN reported .
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More than 50 schools had to close, and several towns were evacuated.
Firefighters recently busy putting out and controlling blazes were put into action to help those stranded in floods, clearing downed trees and pumping water out of inundated ares.
The area’s dams and reservoirs reported large jumps in their levels as well, some gaining as much as 25% capacity, and many installed screens to keep ash from the fires from contaminating the water supply.
Tens of thousands of homes were left without power, and travel was disrupted with roads flooded and some routes washed out.
As The Guardian reported, Sydney also experienced considerable coastal erosion from the storm, with one area losing up to 25 meters from its beach.
However, the torrential rains weren’t all bad news.
At least 30 fires were extinguished over the rainy weekend, some of which had been burning for months. One particularly stubborn fire burned for 74 days, consuming almost 500,000 hectares and destroying 312 homes before the rains doused it, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service .
The nation’s largest single fire, which at its peak was larger than Manhattan and Long Island combined, was also extinguished by the rains.
The NSW Rural Fire Service expects that all fires in New South Wales could be doused soon thanks to the rains.
