SYDNEY, 8th January, 2023 (WAM) — Military helicopters airlifted hundreds of people from communities cut off by "once in a century" floods in Australia's northwest, an official leading relief efforts said on Sunday, noting water covered some places “as far as the eye could see”, Reuters reported.
The crisis in the Kimberley – an sparsely populated area in Western Australia state about the size of California – was sparked last week by severe weather system Ellie, a former tropical cyclone that brought heavy rain.
"The water is everywhere," Western Australia Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson told reporters in Perth.
"People in the Kimberley are experiencing a one-in-100-year flood event, the worst flooding Western Australia has had in its history."
In some parts, he said flood waters stretched for 50 kilometres with inundation "as far as the eye can see".
While the extent of flood damage was difficult to assess, authorities expected the recovery effort to take months.