New South Wales (NSW), Sydney, and Southeast Queensland in Australia are flooded due to severe rainfalls. The downpours caused rivers and dams in the area to overflow on March 22, Monday. Sydney’s borders to the north and west, the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers, reached higher levels on the same day. Meanwhile, the Warragamba Dam, Sydney’s main water source, began spilling for the first time in five years. According to records, the dam had a discharge of 500 gigaliters on Sunday. Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has forecasted “increased rainfall, strong winds, damaging surf, and abnormally high tides” in NSW on Tuesday.

The military has been dispatched for search and rescue missions. 10 million people are under a weather warning except for Western Australia. Authorities have a current record of 15,000 evacuations in the Mid-North Coast and 3,000 in Sydney. The Bureau of Meteorology said that NSW and some inland areas are at a “serious risk” of flash floods. Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison also said: “This is an ongoing situation that is evolving and is extremely dangerous.” The incident has been referred to as a “one-in-50-years-event.”