The body of a man was found in a car trapped in floodwaters in Australia on Friday, May 23, 2025, raising the death toll to four.
This comes after three days of incessant rain cut off entire towns, swept away livestock, and destroyed homes.
Police said the man was found near Coffs Harbour, around 550 km (342 miles) north of Sydney.
The search continued for a person missing since the deluge began early this week.
Around 50,000 people are still isolated, emergency services personnel said, while residents returning to their flooded homes were warned to watch out for dangers.
“Floodwaters have contaminants, there can be vermin, snakes. So you need to assess those risks. Electricity can also pose a danger as well,” state Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Damien Johnston said during a media briefing.
Television videos showed submerged intersections and street signs, cars up to their windshields in water, after fast-rising waters burst river banks in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state.
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Debris from the floods, and dead and lost livestock, have washed up on the coast, Reuters reported.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he had to cancel his planned visit to Taree, one of the worst-hit towns, due to floodwaters.
“We did try but that was not possible due to the circumstance, which I’m sure people understand,” Albanese told reporters.
Australia has been enduring more extreme weather events that some experts say are happening because of climate change.
After droughts and devastating bushfires at the end of last decade, frequent floods have wreaked havoc since early 2021.
“What once were rare downpours are now becoming the new normal – climate change is rewriting Australia’s weather patterns, one flood at a time,” Davide Faranda, weather researcher at ClimaMeter, said in a statement.
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