Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Sunday that military personnel will be sent to assist communities devastated by severe flooding in the nation’s northern region.
The Prime Minister confirmed that his center-left administration has authorized the deployment of Australian Defence Force members to support areas surrounding Katherine, a Northern Territory community located approximately 164 miles south of Darwin, the territory’s capital.
“To everyone doing it tough right now, know we are with you through the response and through the recovery,” Albanese posted on social media platform X.
Emergency Services Minister Kristy McBain confirmed during television interviews that military support will continue for as long as two weeks.
Officials dealing with flooding caused by torrential rainfall across the Northern Territory and adjacent Queensland state announced earlier this week that they had found two bodies during their search for missing Chinese backpackers who disappeared in Queensland’s Gympie area floods.
According to Australia’s national science agency, climate change is making severe short-duration rainfall events increasingly powerful across the continent.
