Sydney, Australia's most populous city that has been drenched in rain for days, braced for more heavy downpours as the death toll from flooding across the country's east rose to 17.
A wild weather system that dumped more than a year's worth of rainfall over a week in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales brought widespread destruction, leaving thousands of people in the states displaced and sweeping away property, livestock and roads.
"We are facing, unfortunately, a few more days of ongoing wet, stormy weather which will be quite dangerous for residents of NSW," BOM meteorologist Jane Golding said at a televised briefing.Read MoreIn the north of New South Wales, the Clarence River remained at a major flood level, but Golding said the severe weather appeared likely to clear from Wednesday onwards.The rising Clarence River floods the town of Grafton in northern New South Wales, on March 1, 2022.