Australia is battered by catastrophic floods
Freakish weather is becoming increasingly common
THE WILSONS RIVER broke its banks on the night of February 27th while Lismore, a town of around 30,000 in New South Wales, was sleeping. Its residents snoozed through early-hours emergency warnings that “risk to life [was] imminent”. Within hours the town was submerged. Residents scrambled into their attics. Mothers carried children onto rooftops. An army of locals launched tin boats into the floods to save them. Four people died.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Extreme no more”
From the March 12th 2022 edition
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