Houses floating down rivers,
dams overflowing,
and more than 20,000 people evacuated.
Hello! Is anybody home?
This is what happened
when a once-in-a-century weather event hit the east coast.
SCOTT MORRISON: The terrible storms and floods
that have been ravaging New South Wales these past few days
are taking a heavy toll.
Like, it's pretty amazing
how the water can get this bad really quickly.
There was so much rain in some parts of New South Wales and Queensland
that whole roads disappeared under metres of floodwaters.
While tens of thousands of people made their way to safer drier ground,
many found themselves stuck,
and emergency services had to step in.
WOMAN: All of a sudden, it just hit.
It was too late.
We got what we could out and we ended up
having to get the firies out to rescue us
at, like, 2:00 in the morning.
It wasn't just rain either.
Storms brought strong winds.
The house felt like it was literally moving.
I was feeling a little panicked
'cause I had my little sister and brother in the room,
and so I just called for my mum to come.
Hundreds of schools across New South Wales
and some in Queensland were also forced to close.
School has been cancelled for the last three days,
'cause we are...the water has gone over the highway.
It wasn't just people weathering the storm, though.
Lots of animals found themselves in places
they really didn't want to be.
MAN: I don't know how he's got there,
but I hope he's alright.
This is the fifth horse I've saved, mate.
They're not my ponies.
We've pulled nine head of cattle out.
Other smaller critters also escaped floodwaters
and made themselves at home around people's homes,
whether they were wanted or not.
Probably three days ago,
they started to come in towards the house,
and then, yeah,
I think yesterday is when they got up on the fence.
Although some creatures seemed quite at home in the water.
It was amazing. It was like watching a bathtub fill up.
It started pouring in from the national park end,
and then from there,
you could literally watch our alligator lagoon fill and fill.
Experts say a weather pattern called La Nina is partly to blame
for the storms and floods.
It's why we've experienced colder temperatures,
more rain and stronger winds than usual
across many parts of the country this summer.
But they also say some areas
like the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley in Sydney
are at much higher risk of flooding than others
because of the number of rivers and lakes around,
their size and shape,
and how hard it is for extra water to flow out to sea.
Scientists say climate change has also played a part
in making extreme weather events like this more common.
There's also been a lot of discussion around dams,
and whether they're being managed properly
to avoid spilling over when the weather turns.
Now the rain has cleared
and things are starting to dry out in most areas,
but while many people have been able to return home,
this is what a lot of them have come back to.
INTERVIEWER: And how much have you lost?
(TEARFULLY) Pretty much everything. Yep.
Devastating.
Water has covered everything. (CHUCKLES)
So, hopefully, I can clean it up a little bit
and make it look like it used to, but who knows, at this stage?
We haven't stopped.
Like, it's literally been, "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go,"
for the last seven days.
Authorities, volunteers and neighbours
have been coming together to help each other out
after a week like none of them has ever seen before,
and never want to see again.
You know, it's amazing.
The people who have come to help, it's just, you know,
makes you realise that it's just stuff, you know?
We're still alive, and people care.