Australia floods crisis set to worsen amid forecast for more rain

A satellite image shows a flooded farm in Rochester, Australia, October 16, 2022. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS.

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Thousands of residents across southeast Australia braced for renewed flooding on Tuesday as weather forecasters warned of more downpours later this week, while swollen rivers continued to roll downstream inundating farms, towns and homes.

Australia's longest river, the Murray, which straddles the border between the two most populous states of New South Wales and Victoria, could hit a near 30-year high on Friday around the border towns of Echuca and Moama, home to more than 20,000, the Bureau of Meteorology said in its latest update.