Australia declared a national emergency on March 9, 2022  in response to devastating floods along its east coast, and designated catastrophe zones in towns swept away by swollen rivers.

“Australia is becoming a harder country to live in because of these natural disasters,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday after touring the worst-hit Northern Rivers area of New South Wales. The emergency declaration, which was set up after Australia’s destructive 2019 bushfires, will help cut red tape and speed up aid amid criticism about a slow response to the floods in which at least 21 people have died.

Frustrated residents in the Northern Rivers, with no access to power and internet for several days, have blamed authorities for the slow speed and scale of relief efforts. Morrison, who is trailing in polls ahead of a federal election before May, kept media away from his meetings with flood victims, which he said was to protect their privacy.

Source: www.reuters.com