Tens of thousands of people in Australia have been forced to evacuate their homes as a wild weather system — referred to as a "rain bomb" — dumped more than a year's worth of rainfall over a week in Queensland and New South Wales.
With the torrential rain came widespread destruction and major flooding, sweeping away property, livestock and roads.
But while the rain has eased in parts of Australia, this national tragedy is far from over, with residents being tasked with a huge clean-up project in the aftermath of these record-breaking floods.
1. A woman walks past a flood-damaged business in central Lismore, New South Wales.
2. The flood-damaged interior of a St George Bank branch in central Lismore.
3. Piles of flood-damaged goods line a main street in central Lismore.
4. A woman removes damaged items from her sister's bedroom in their flood-affected house in Lismore.
5. Damaged possessions line the streets in Lismore, as residents gear up to clean their homes.
It took ten 10 of us nearly half a day to clear one house before we could even begin cleaning it. I can’t imagine how difficult this would be for anyone living on their own, or without access to help. (2/4)
6. A man and his daughter stand outside their flood-affected house in Lismore.
7. A layer of mud covers a bathroom in a flood-affected house in Lismore.
8. Photos showing the extent of the flood damage in Lismore.
#Lismore today. The town has seen floods … “but nothing like this”. There’s a sense of defeat as people are scrambling to clean the toxic mess. Many fear that the total death toll in the area is much higher than so far reported. “Everything has changed”, I was told.
9. A man, who is surrounded by rubbish and debris from the floods, tries to clear drains in Brisbane, Queensland.
10. Rubbish piled up on a flooded road in Brisbane.
11. Rubbish from flood-affected homes in Brisbane are piled up on either side of the roads.
12. Piles of destroyed goods line the flood-affected city centre in Lismore.
13. A man removes debris from his flood-affected car mechanic business in Lismore.
14. A tractor rests on a small paddock surrounded by floodwater in Brisbane.
15. Residents look on as rubbish is placed at a flooded street in Brisbane.
16. A child throws away a giraffe toy in the flood-damaged suburb of Newmarket, Brisbane.
17. A local shopping centre in Queensland that has been ravaged by the floods.
@QuadeCooper First time for me experiencing floods this! Great thing about QLD and Brisbane is people have been helping each other. Spent the last 2 days helping clean up people's homes but it's heartbreaking to see people lose so much. This is my local shopping centre!
18. According to this video, "every flat street two hours in every direction" looks like this one flood-damaged street in Lismore.
19. A man clears mud from the lower level of a home following flooding in Newmarket.
20. A man disposes of his flood-damaged belongings in Newmarket.
21. Staff work to clean up flood damaged at a chemist in Windsor, New South Wales.
22. Mitchellton Football Club's field that was destroyed by floodwaters in Brisbane.
23. The same football field, but shown from a different angle.
24. A bobcat is used to clear damaged stock feed at a store in South Lismore.
The flood clean up is underway for dairy co-operative Norco. David Holmes donated the use of a bobcat + driver to clear the damaged stock feed at its rural store in South Lismore. 🥛 🚜 👏 #NSWFloods #LismoreFloods
25. Volunteers sweep mud from the front of a flood-affected house in Murwillumbah, New South Wales.
26. A video showing the results of a massing community clean up in a Brisbane street.
The massive clean up in my street all with the help of neighbours- community caring is the upside of disaster #Brisbane #Floods
27. A man pressure hoses the inside of his flood-damaged car outside his home in Murwillumbah.
28. Dry mud covers the interior of a flood-damaged car in Tumbulgum, New South Wales.
29. Two residents help to clean up a friend's flood-affected home by sweeping away mud in New South Wales.
30. Volunteers from the local Rural Fire Brigade help to clean up a flood-affected primary school in Tumbulgum.
31. A video showing staff attempting to clean up a local connivence store in Sydney.
And the clean up is underway… #floods #flooding #floodsnsw #Rainfall #SydneyStorm #sydneyfloods #sydneyrain #nswweather #weather #ClimateCrisis #LaNiña #LaNina
32. A Brisbane backyard with a deserted car and tree branches everywhere.
33. Debris covers a children's playground in Manly, New South Wales.
34. A man throws away flood damaged merchandise from his skate shop in Lismore.
35. A dead cow, washed away by floodwater, is wedged in a tree in the backyard of a house in Woodburn, New South Wales.
36. A car rests on a fence after it was carried there by floodwater in Tumbulgum.
37. An abandoned car is seen in floodwaters in the suburb of Newmarket.
38. Clean up and flood recovery scenes from Lismore's CBD.
Lismore CBD yesterday. This clean up and flood recovery will take the best part of a year if not longer. #NSWFloods #LismoreFloods #ClimateCrisis #ClimateActionNow 📸 Jaydon Daly
39. A train is derailed in an accident caused by flooding in the town of Gympie, Queensland.
40. Residents walk past an uprooted tree in Sydney's central business district.
41. An Eastern Brown Snake is spotted during a flood clean-up in Brisbane.
With floodwaters receding, this #EasternBrownSnake ended up perched above head height in a storage warehouse. Quite precarious with no power and slippery, muddy floors! Be careful during the clean-up and keep an eye for scaly visitors 🐍👍 #brisbaneflood #qldfloods #flood #WildOz
42. Residents and volunteers help with the clean up of a property affected by floodwater in Coraki, New South Wales.
43. And finally, photos showing the scale of the clean-up in Kingscliff and Lismore.
Even with photos, it’s hard to comprehend the scale of the floods. In a lot of cases, people had less then 5 minutes to evacuate and most of their possessions were damaged. It’s times like this though that brings a community together.
There are still evacuation orders and warnings in place for locations across NSW — for updates and evacuation centers, please click here. For emergency help in floods and storms, call the NSW State Emergency Service on 132 500. In life threatening situations call triple zero (000) immediately.
To donate towards flood-affected victims in NSW and Queensland, visit GIVIT.