Volunteer recovery and clean-up efforts will be halted on Sunday due to expected heavy rain in the Australian towns devastated by deadly flooding over the past week.
In the past week, 11 people have died in floods in the state ofQueensland, and the national weather bureau warned of severe storms and flooding.
There is 2.6 million people in the major city of Brisbane.
Heavy rains, large hailstones and damaging winds were expected to hit further south in the state of New South Wales, including the town of Lismore, which last week saw record flooding and dramatic rescue efforts to save residents stranded on their roofs.
The death toll from the floods in New South Wales has risen to five.
Some locals in flood-affected areas have taken to social media to vent their frustration about the lack of police, defence personnel and emergency services on the ground to help with the recovery effort.
Tom Wolff, who runs a local charity organisation, said he spent Saturday collecting donations of blood thinners, which were then delivered by a private helicopter to residents with diabetes in the nearby town of Woodburn.
The Defence Minister defended the work of his department in the aftermath of the record flooding.
He promised there would be 5,000 troops on the ground in the coming days.
Climate change is making Australia's floods more frequent and more intense.
There will be a new year in 2022.
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