Australia Storms: 3 Dead, Search For 2 Missing Called Off As Rough Weather Affects East Coast

Rough weather and flooded rivers wreaked havoc on Australia’s east coast, killing three people over the weekend. Twenty-one flood warnings are currently in place and several main roads in the area, including in Sydney, have been affected by the weather, according to local reports Monday.

States of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have been battered by the storms. About 86,000 homes in New South Wales suffered power outage over the weekend, BBC reported.

On Monday morning, a 37-year-old man’s body was found in the Cotter River near Canberra. Police reportedly said he died while trapped in floodwaters at a river crossing.

Sheffield, south of Devonport in northern Tasmania, witnessed its heaviest rainfall on record, according to Sky News. Extensive search for two missing elderly people in Tasmania was called off Monday evening. They were swept in floodwaters in the island state.

While a part of Sydney witnessed its worst flooding in three decades, the city’s Observatory Hill weather station received about 226 millimeters of rain over the weekend — far above the average monthly rainfall for June of 131.9 millimeters, Agence France-Presse reported.

Wind gusts in excess of 71 miles per hour were recorded in Sydney Harbour and two of the three runways of Sydney Airport were shut down because of the high winds, the meteorology bureau said, according to Agence France-Presse.

The country’s Bureau of Meteorology issued fresh warnings Monday about abnormally high tides and heavy surf in the coastal areas.