Rain extinguishes Australian wildfire and causes flooding

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Torrential rain lashing Australia’s east coast on Sunday has extinguished a major wildfire and caused widespre flash flooding.

Rain put out Currowan Fire south of Sydney late Saturday after it destroyed 312 homes and razed 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) over 74 days, New South Wales state Rural Fire Service said.

Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said he hoped heavy rain would move inland from coast and drench more major fires that have burned for months.

Fitzsimmons bid farewell at a Sydney Airport hotel on Sunday to 21 American and 21 Canian firefighters who were heing home after ir deployment battling Australian blazes.

A severe wear warning was in place on Sunday along most of New South Wales coast and parts of Queensland to rth, with heavy rain, damaging winds, abrmally high tides and damaging surf forecast.

State Emergency Service reported six flood rescues overnight near Grafton, rth of Sydney. y were mostly people who became stranded while attempting to drive through floodwater.

Some east coast towns have received in recent days ir heaviest rainfall in five deces.

On Australia’s rthwest coast, Tropical Cyclone Damien me landfall late Saturday as a category 3 storm and weakened as it moved inland.

Several buildings h lost roofs, but authorities h yet to asses full extent of dam on Sunday.

Australian wildfires that have killed at least 33 and destroyed more than 3,000 homes in an unprecedented fire season that began late in a record-dry 2019.