Floods force thousands from their homes in southeastern Australia

Thousands of people in southeastern Australia have been told to leave their homes after two days of incessant rain caused dams to overflow and rivers to burst their banks.

Large parts of Victoria state, southern New South Wales and the northern regions of the island state of Tasmania have been pounded by an intense weather system with some seeing more than a month’s worth of rain since late on Wednesday, according to officials.

“[This] has led to widespread, major flooding … with some rivers experiencing record flooding and this is only going to continue to move downstream and get worse,” Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Dean Narramore told Australian public broadcaster ABC television.

Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, was the worst hit with the western Melbourne suburb of Maribyrnong swamped by the rising waters.