After three days of torrential rains and hard winds, residents of Sydney, Newcastle and the state of Illawarra in Australia's New South Wales could finally have a respite as the weather improves beginning Thursday, reports said.
Authorities can finally begin the massive cleanup as the weather has been predicted to turn benign by tomorrow, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.
This is by far the longest that Sydney and its neighboring cities experienced the battering of a low- pressure area that brought almost 260 mm (about 10.2 inches) of rain and sustained strong winds for three days, Weatherzone meteorologist Ben McBurney said to the publication.
McBurney added that this is the first time that Australia's NSW experienced a storm this strong. NSW Minister Mike Baird had declared the storms a natural disaster.
According to a round-up report by 9 News, the death toll rose to three and two people are missing. Slippery roads caused the death of two persons near Singleton. In Sydney's southwest area, some 200 homes were evacuated because the Gorges River overflowed and flooded the surrounding towns. Classes at 183 schools in NSW will be suspended on Thursday.
Meantime, landing at the Sydney Airport became more challenging and difficult as the winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (about 62 mph) were encountered.
Although some international flights were diverted to Brisbane, some pilots on domestic flights were forced to land amidst the bad weather. Qantas pilot Nathan Safe said that in these conditions, autopilot has no use.
