The pictures went around the world as early as March: Australia’s largest metropolis Sydney is once again struggling with heavy rain. This time, the floods could be even more devastating.

After heavy rains, areas around the eastern Australian city of Sydney have been flooded again. Lower areas in the southwest of the metropolis were a good 1.50 meters under water on Sunday, as photos show.

The New South Wales State Emergency Service recommended evacuations for some areas on its website and warned that rain should continue until at least Monday. According to media reports, the Sydney area has already had four times as much rain as usual in the entire month of July.

The weather service warned that water levels in the region could rise at least as high as in March, when much of the same area was flooded. The first dam had already overflowed. Meteorologist Jonathan How told ABC that in Menangle, about 70 kilometers southwest of Sydney, the river level had already reached 16.5 metres, just below the record level of 16.8 meters set in April 2022.