Disasters & Accidents

Torrential rains cause flooding, power outages in southeast Australia

Sydney, Australia, Oct 13 (EFE).- Powerful torrential rains across southeast Australia caused on Thursday major flooding and power outages in thousands of homes as residents were warned to prepare for an intense storm.

The storm is affecting the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania in the southeastern parts of the country.

Local authorities have issued warnings over the danger of overflowing rivers and lakes and ordered the evacuation of local towns amid forecasts of worsening weather conditions over the next 24 hours.

In Victoria, some 9,000 people lost power Wednesday after winds reached 100 kilometers per hour in the region’s alpine region. The strong winds caused damage to power infrastructure and trees to fall on roads and properties.

“Today we’ve seen the severe weather that was forecast hit the state,” the premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, wrote on Twitter.

“It’s not over yet, heavy rain and strong wind is going to continue over the next couple of days,” he added, warning that the floods could be the “most significant” in recent times.

Several inland towns were cut off due to flooding that has blocked the highways while residents of Bendigo were placing sandbags to prevent the river from overflowing and flooding their properties.

On the island of Tasmania, authorities have urged residents to stay indoors while in New South Wales hundreds of people from the town of Forbes were evacuated.

It is the third year in a row that Australia’s east coast has been hit by La Niña phenomenon, causing wetter conditions than usual. Since January, two major floods have killed some 20 people and caused major damage in the region. EFE

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