An Irishwoman living on the outskirts of Sydney has described the "unbelievable devastation" caused by extensive flooding near the city.
Clare McCarthy lives in Manly, a suburb located 20 minutes by ferry from the main metropolitan area.
The coastal location is one area badly impacted by floods that have caused disaster scenes in Australia's largest city.
Tens of thousands of Sydney residents have been forced to flee their homes after heavy rain and strong winds blasted areas along the coast of New South Wales.
A mother and son were found dead in the city on Tuesday, bringing the death toll from the east coast floods across New South Wales and Queensland to 21.
Ms McCarthy had been enjoying a long-overdue visit from her mother when the torrential rain began falling.
The pair, from Cork, enjoyed a "lovely ten days together" in the sunshine before the "armageddon" scenes unfolded.
"It honestly hasn't stopped, I think it's been two weeks now we've had intensive rain but today has been the worst," she told RTE's Ryan Tubridy on Tuesday.
"It's impossible to describe what it's been like, the rain last night was just horrendous and we thought it would let up but it hasn't and to see scenes of flooding, [Manly] underwater, cars floating, kids being vacated from school, it would kind of be like it happening in Dun Laoghaire or Blackrock.
"It's very much within reach of the Central Business District. You see people being evacuated from their homes, the devastation is just quite unbelievable and what we saw today is that the amount of rainfall means that the ground is so wet.
"We're expecting a massive thunderstorm this evening, so now the warning is that trees are going to fall, the roads will give way, it's too hard to even put into context."
Ms McCarthy added that the significance of her mother being able to visit was "huge" after two years of separation.
"Mum has had a horrendous two years, as has everybody," she said.
"So many people have been affected and just to have this time together...but now with the weather, this is beyond comprehension.
"I think the reunions now for people mean so much more.
"The Irish community here has really rallied and have found even more resources in each other than they probably would have thought of before.
"For me, having mum here has been exceptional."
