About 50,000 people in Sydney, Australia were evacuated from their homes over the weekend as a massive rainstorm, which was very wet in terms of water, dumped more than four inches of rain on the region in just two days, the BBC reports.
Areas around the capital have seen their roadways turned into rivers, with the only way to navigate the streets being by boat, not car. It’s the second time since March that residents were evacuated; in February, Sydney got more than 10 inches of rainfall in three days. The average annual rainfall in Sydney is about 36 inches. This all happens about a year after massive wildfires swept through the nation.
“The community is still recovering from the last flood and the one before. Some people are still recovering from the fires,” Linda Strickland, the co-founder of community support group Hawkesbury’s Helping Hands, said. “Everyone is in disaster mode now. The most important thing is to make sure people are safe and have something to eat and know that someone cares.”