Floods Kill 13 people in Australia, Gov't Asks 200,000 People to Flee  

Australian emergency services called on 200,000 people to flee a storm that battered Sydney on Thursday.  r 13 people were killed by record-breaking flooding along the east coast.

Authorities issued warnings of heavy rain and winds along 400 km of coast, with water levels rising rapidly, including in the suburbs around Sydney, Australia's largest city and home to 5 million people.

The unpredictable storm crept south, along the east coast from Queensland to New South Wales, causing havoc, with homes flooded to rooftops.

The Australian authorities ordered 200,000 people to evacuate their homes and warned another 300,000 to join them soon.

A week of torrential rain swelled rivers and reservoirs beyond the point of the blast, wreaking devastation in an 800-kilometer area.