SYDNEY: Sydney is set to record its wettest year in 164 years, as authorities braced for major floods in Australia's east, with more heavy downpours expected to fall over the next three days.
By Thursday morning, Sydney had received 2,157 mm of rain for the year, just shy of the record 2,194 mm set in 1950, official data showed.
That record is expected to fall late Friday night and into Saturday, Bureau of Meteorology BoM forecaster Jonathan How told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television. It is the fifth time the country's largest city has exceeded 2,000 mm in a single year since records began in 1858.
Australia's east coast has been in the grip of a multi-year rain event due to the La Nina weather phenomenon, typically associated with increased rainfall, which has caused floods in Sydney suburbs three times in the past two years and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.
With a wild weather system expected to dump heavy rains over the weekend across a wide area of Australia's east, authorities warned of flash flooding and stay away from flooded roads.
Many dams and rivers are already full capacity. The New South Wales state government has committed to raising the height of the wall at Sydney's Warragamba Dam, which supplies 80 per cent of the city's water, to prevent future floods.
More downpours are forecast for the rest of 2022 due to the rare occurrence of a third straight La Nina weather event.
BoM's How said the active La Nina period will cause more rainfall and increases the risk of flooding, so we're still in this active La Nina period.
Some of the state's rural inland towns have already been flooded with television footage showing residents moving farm animals to higher ground and damage to roads.
New South Wales emergency crews said there were 47 flood warnings in place across the state, with moderate flooding expected in parts of Sydney on Saturday.
Emergency services spokesman Scott McLennan said that the situation will only get more dangerous over the next few weeks.
McLennan told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "We don't know, but we do know that there is more water coming," McLennan said.