Natural disastersAustralia floods raise alarm on Sydney's great housing gamble
Plans to meet surging home demand go underwater as rain wreaks havoc
A man wades through his flooded yard in a Western Sydney suburb on March 23. Some experts say plans to build more houses in flood-prone areas should be scrapped. © Getty Images
GEOFF HISCOCK, Contributing writer
SYDNEY -- As Australia counts the multibillion dollar cost of the once-in-a-century rains that have flooded large parts of its east coast communities this week, experts are warning that even greater calamities lie ahead if Sydney's expansion onto a crucial flood plain is left unchecked.