A young couple in Australia, waking up on their wedding day with new hope and promises, were utterly devastated to find their home casually being swept away by the worst flood the country has ever seen in many years. Heavy rainfalls on the east coast of Australia from March 18th, 2021, led to the flooding in parts of New South Wales to up to 1m of rain, affecting regions from the North Coast to the Sydney metropolitan areas in the South. "I've been a flood forecaster with the bureau for 20 years and this is probably the worst flooding that I've experienced," Justin Robinson, national floods service manager from the Bureau of Meteorology said. As of March 31st, approximately 40,000 people have been forced to evacuate and at least two people, who were trapped in their cars, have died due to the flooding. The Warragamba dam, which is the primary reservoir for water supply in Sydney, overflowed for the first time in five years fueling the mass flooding in the city. According to Reuters, approximately 40% of the population were victims of the flooding and 25 million acres of land were subjected to weather warning.
Australia has been facing extreme weather conditions for the past few years. Late 2019s have seen dozens of wildfires issuing in New South Wales, which rapidly spread across many states in the country. This was one of the most devastating cases of bushfires, and one of the major series of tragic events that we have seen in 2020. Roughly 25.5 million acres, an area about the size of South Korea, has burned. On top of that, from 2017 to the summer of 2020, New South Wales has faced three consecutive years of severe drought. The southeast Australian states received the lowest amount of rainfalls in almost 100 years, which destroyed farmlands, dried major water bodies and killed thousands of marine lives. Yet, in a matter of months, these states are now being subjected to the heaviest rainfalls it has ever seen, which is flooding everything in its wake. This unexpected and severe weather conditions in the country is the result of one of the deadliest issues the world is facing today- climate change. Climate change in Australia is an ongoing issue since the beginning of this century. As the country gets hotter, it is more prone to droughts, bushfires, floods, tsunamis and other disasters. Furthermore, the average temperature of the country has already increased by more than 1°C since 1950 and approximately 250,000 houses are at risk from flooding from a sea level rise. Therefore, natural disasters like the heavy flooding the country is facing right now will keep on happening every year, as climate change steadily imposes its deadly wrath upon humanity.
As of now, the government of Australia has made declarations that allow people to apply for emergency funds for damages caused by the flooding. Over 3000 claims have been approved and 10,000 payments have been made to the victims. Moreover, emergency services have responded to over thousands of calls of people who have been left stranded or dislocated because of the flooding. Officials and service workers are working tirelessly to help amend the situation and look after the 20,000 people who are still living in rescue shelters. There are also many ways you can help the people who have suffered huge losses from this disaster. If you want to donate, you should do so through officially recognized organizations that are working directly to help these victims. One such organization is GIVIT, which is officially partnered with the NSW government in managing such donations. 100% of donated funds received by GIVIT will be used to purchase exactly what's needed by the people and the communities impacted by this disaster. Another notable organization is Red cross Australia which is working tirelessly to provide humanitarian support to the people affected by the NSW floods. Moreover, if you yourself are living in a flood prone area, always make sure to check on your neighbors following a flood to provide necessary assistance. You can volunteer to help out in your local community after a flood and you can do so by checking with your local recovery committee to see what needs to be done.
However, if you truly want to prevent these disasters from happening in the first place, you must eradicate the root problem- climate change. No matter how hard it might be to mitigate this problem, the solution always starts with you. It involves habituating eco-friendly practices and doing your part in limiting carbon emissions. Advocating for change is necessary and can be done so by making others aware about climate change through social media platforms and reminding people what they can do to reduce its effects. Staying well informed about the environmental issues brought upon by climate change is a good way to help donate for these causes. Overall, you must remind yourself that time is short, thus you must act immediately to play your part, no matter how small or big it is, to reduce the adverse effects of climate change. Only then you help ensure a better future for the world.
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