Wild Weather Blackouts 300,000 Properties in Australia
AFP/APP
Sydney: Torrential rain and powerful gusts have plunged more than 300,000 properties into darkness and inundated parts of Australia’s east coast, officials said Sunday. One driver has been confirmed dead, and a dozen soldiers were injured in the extreme weather.
After lingering off the coast for days as a Category 2 tropical cyclone, battering a 400-kilometre (250-mile) stretch of coastline, Cyclone Alfred weakened into a tropical depression before making landfall on Saturday evening.
However, as the remnants of the cyclone moved inland, hundreds of thousands remained without power on Sunday. Footage showed knee-high floodwaters sweeping through roads in the hardest-hit areas of southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.
Queensland’s Premier, David Crisafulli, said at a news conference that 23 centimetres (nine inches) of rain had drenched the resort town of Hervey Bay, flooding homes and prompting emergency rescues in swift-moving waters.
“The weather system continues to pack a punch as it moves inland,” Crisafulli said, adding that over 1,000 schools closed across the state would gradually start reopening on Monday.
Widespread Power Outages
Utility companies reported that about 290,000 homes and businesses in southeast Queensland and another 16,000 in northeast New South Wales were still without electricity on Sunday.
“Customers need to be prepared to be without power for several days,” Queensland’s Essential Energy warned.
“The biggest challenges to restoring power include rising floodwaters, swollen creek beds, fallen vegetation, and mudslides blocking access roads,” the company said in a statement.
Around 14,600 residents in New South Wales remain under emergency warnings due to the ongoing weather system, the state’s emergency services said.
“In the last 24 hours, we have responded to 17 incidents involving vehicles driving into floodwaters,” said Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Damien Johnson.
“Not only is it dangerous for drivers and their families, but it also puts emergency service workers at risk during rescue operations,” he added.
Tragic Death & Soldier Injuries
A 61-year-old man lost his life after his four-wheel-drive pickup truck was swept off a bridge into a river in northern New South Wales. According to police, he managed to escape the vehicle and attempted to cling to a tree branch before being carried away by the current. His body was recovered on Saturday.
In a separate incident, 13 soldiers were injured on Saturday when two army trucks overturned during a road-clearing mission near the flood-prone city of Lismore in New South Wales.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns confirmed that 12 soldiers remained hospitalized on Sunday, with two in serious condition. “We wish a speedy recovery for all of those young soldiers,” Minns said at a news conference.
Government’s Response & Weather Warnings
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that the extreme weather remains a serious threat.
“The situation in Queensland and northern New South Wales is still critical due to flash flooding and heavy winds,” Albanese said. “Heavier rainfall, damaging wind gusts, and dangerous coastal surf conditions are expected to persist over the coming days,” he added.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings for large parts of southeast Queensland and New South Wales, cautioning that “heavy to intense rainfall may cause dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding throughout Sunday and beyond.”
