Australia and New South Wales encountered the worst flood in 50 years. What is the situation of local residents?

It is understood that local emergency services have carried out at least 500 rescues, including lifting people from cars. Meanwhile a helicopter rescued a stranded family from their flooded home. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said rainfall in recent days was "extraordinary", with some areas reaching 1,000 millimeters. As the weather system sweeps inland, authorities are most worried about residents of low-lying areas north and west of Sydney, the NSW Central Coast and the Hawkesbury Valley. Flooding has caused massive damage in New South Wales state, forcing the evacuation of 15,000 people on the state's northern central coast and 3,000 people in Sydney, local officials said. Swelling rivers cut off roads and bridges, forcing about 150 schools to close on Monday. Livestock floated in flooded areas, and rows of houses had their windows submerged, some floating away with the floodwaters.

The Hawkesbury and Nipe rivers, which border Sydney to the north and west, on Monday exceeded levels seen during the devastating 1961 floods. Forecasters said levels in the Hawkesbury River could reach 13 meters (42 feet) later in the day. Separately, Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main water source, has begun overflowing for the first time in five years. Another young couple saw their house in Sydney's north swept away by flash floods on the day they were due to get married. But misfortune struck when neighbors filmed the uprooted three-bedroom cottage bobbing along the Manning River after breaching its banks.

At Newcastle Airport, flights have been suspended due to flooded runways. Authorities also reported that 18 local council areas in New South Wales state were hit hard by a small tornado that struck western Sydney on Saturday, causing landslides and damaging homes. In southeast Queensland, flash flooding also affected Brisbane and the Gold Coast over the weekend.

Human beings are so insignificant in the face of natural disasters. Although we don’t know whether natural disasters are caused by human activities, we should still protect the environment and treat nature well so that nature can treat us well.