Floods, transport chaos hits Sydney

Torrential rains hit Sydney on Thursday, causing flash floods and transport chaos in the city. The Bureau of Meteorology said about 119 mm of rain fell on parts of the Sydney central business district Thursday. “There has been very, very heavy rain and some very strong winds,” a spokesman for the bureau told the Australian AAP news agency. The rainfall caused flash floods, bringing the city’s train services to a halt and causing the closure of dozens of roads in Sydney, Xinhua reported. Wet weather also caused power outages to about 300 homes in the city. Over 20 residents of Austral in southwest Sydney were evacuated after a local creek flooded. At the suburb of Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west, 20 homes in three streets were evacuated Thursday due to flash floods. Motorists were rescued from cars caught in flooding in several suburbs of Sydney. Flights from Sydney Airport were delayed or cancelled because of strong winds and rain. Some railway lines in Sydney were suspended Thursday morning due to flooding on the tracks. Commuters suffered major delays. The New South Wales Fire and Rescue said 250 firefighters from more than 50 fire stations responded to dozens of incidents caused by the heavy rain across Sydney.