Flood water rising in Australia
Around 2,000 people in south-east Australia have spent the night in emergency shelters because of flooding, which has affected most of the state of New South Wales.
In Sydney, the floodgates of the Warragamba Dam, the city's main source of drinking water, had to be opened to release water pressure from the swollen reservoir.
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 say that parts of the state of Victoria have already received more rain than usually falls in the whole of March.
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy reports from Sydney.
03 Mar 2012
- From the section World