Towns across eastern Australia, which have been flooded for three weeks, were put in a state of high alert on 24 October after heavy rains over the weekend. Authorities have warned that dangerous weather could persist through the weekend, according to CNA.
Thousands of homes and farms across a large area of New South Wales and Victoria - Australia's two most populous states - were flooded, killing five people. The fourth flood crisis in eastern Australia is also entering its third consecutive week, causing widespread damage to both infrastructure and the regional economy.
About 200 flood warnings remained in both states as of the morning of October 24, with 132 of those issued in New South Wales.
"There are many rivers undergoing flooding from southern Queensland to northern Victoria," said Dean Narram narore, a forecaster with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Residents in areas of Lismore - a town of 77,000 people about 700km north of Sydney devastated by flooding in March - faced another major flood after heavy rains of up to 200mm over the weekend.
A severe weather warning was canceled on October 24, but the area is still under flood warning. Several rural areas have been hit, including Moree, where the local river is approaching historic flood levels.
"The damage is terrible and widespread. A lot of farmers will not get anything this year," Moree Mayor Mark Johnson told ABC.
In neighboring Victoria, residents of Echuca City are still taking shelter behind a dirt dike built last week as the water level of the Murray River - Australia's longest river - has reached its highest level in nearly 30 years.
The federal government also said on October 24 that it will spend AUD577 million ($370 million) to speed up the handling of aid payments, a day before announcing the national budget.
