MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) 鈥� Homes were flooded in Melbourne and other cities in Australia鈥檚 southeast on Friday with rivers forecast to remain dangerously high for days.
About 70 residents were told to leave the suburb of Maribyrnong in Melbourne鈥檚 northwest, along with hundreds in the Victoria state cities of Benalla and Wedderburn, authorities said. Melbourne is Australia鈥檚 second-most populous city with 5 million people.
The Victoria State Emergency Service said on Friday it had carried out 108 flood rescues in the past 48 hours.
About 500 homes in Victoria were flooded and another 500 had been isolated by floodwater, State Emergency Service commander Josh Gamble said. About 3,500 homes were without power.
Gamble said complacency was the main reason for people getting into trouble.
鈥淭hat is quite significant and we haven鈥檛 had that many flood rescues for quite some time, for some years in fact,鈥� Gamble told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
鈥淢any of these people are putting their own lives at risk, their own children in some circumstances, but more importantly, other community members and responders and that鈥檚 in all parts of the state not just metropolitan areas,鈥� Gamble added.
Evacuation orders were also in place for the town of Rochester on the Campaspe River, north of Melbourne, and the central Victorian towns of Carisbrook and Seymour on the Goulburn River.
To the north in New South Wales state, 550 people have been isolated or evacuated from the town of Forbes as the Lachlan River flooded, authorities said.
South of Forbes, parts of the city of Wagga Wagga were evacuated due to the Murrumbidgee River breaking its banks.
鈥淔ortunately, the Murrumbidgee River peaked on Thursday and we鈥檙e starting to see the floodwaters decline in those areas,鈥� New South Wales State Emergency Service official Andrew Edmunds said.
The Associated Press
