Floods in Australia causing evacuations

Residents of communities in southern New South Wales were told to evacuate or prepare to leave their homes after heavy rains increased flooding in Australia’s most populous state. Residents at The Rock, a community of fewer than 1,000 people about 480 kilometers (298 miles) south of the state capital, Sydney, were ordered to evacuate early today after the deluge caused flash flooding in Bourke’s Creek, the State Emergency Service said in a statement on its website. Three-quarters of New South Wales is affected by flood waters amid "unprecedented" rainfall, SES Commissioner Murray Kear told reporters. A number of people are missing after being swept away, including some in their cars who couldn't escape the speed of the rising waters. Officials said that parts of the state of Victoria have already received more rain than usually falls in the whole of March.