Australia news live: woman killed after tree falls on cabin; tens of thousands without power after night of wild storms | Australia news


Key events

Circling back to the damaging winds and risk of flooding in Tasmania

The executive director of Tasmania SES, Mick Lowe, said there has been 347 requests for assistance overnight.

Over the next 24 hours, we are expecting weather conditions to ease across the state, however the risk of damage and flooding has not passed.

With damaging winds and rainfall, we’re seeing trees down across the state and I urge people to be alert, especially when driving on the roads.

20 warnings are currently in place, with an emergency warning to evacuate now in place for the Derwent River – as we flagged just earlier. Lowe said:

[Properties] face a significant risk of flooding and it is likely roads and properties will become inundated by floodwaters and become inaccessible.

Two evacuation centres are open – one at the Derwent Valley Sport and Recreation Centre on Derwent Terrace in New Norfolk, and another at the Memorial Hall in Circle Street.

More than 100,000 without power in Victoria

In Victoria, around 103,000 remain without power amid the severe weather.

A strong cold front over central Victoria to the east of Melbourne will continue to move rapidly eastwards today, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

The strength of these winds aloft, combined with scattered lines of showers and a few thunderstorms will continue to bring damaging winds to parts of the state today.

Conditions are expected to gradually ease throughout the state during late afternoon and evening today.

East of Melbourne, damaging winds averaging 50 to 65km/h with peak gusts of around 110km/h are forecast early this morning. West of Melbourne, winds averaging 50 to 65km/h with peak gusts of around 110km/h are forecast.

Here are some notable wind gusts recorded in the past six hours:

  • 133km/h wind gust was recorded at Mount Gellibrand

  • 131km/h wind gust was recorded at Falls Creek km/h wind gust was recorded at Cape Otway

  • 113km/h wind gust was recorded at St Kilda Harbour

  • 109km/h wind gust was recorded at Casterton

The Victorian SES says it is currently receiving a significant number of calls.

If you need emergency assistance for storm damage or flooding, please be patient and keep trying.

Share

Updated at 

Extreme fire danger for Illawarra

There is an extreme fire danger rating across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven today in New South Wales.

There is also a total fire ban in place for the Illawarra/Shoalhaven and the greater Sydney region, which has a high fire danger rating today.

An extreme fire danger warning. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

The far north coast, and the south-western region, also have high fire danger ratings today.

This comes as a severe weather warning for damaging winds is in place across parts of NSW and ACT today. For Sydney, the Illawarra, Blue Mountains, south coast and the Hunter, damaging winds around 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts of around 100km/h are possible.

Sustained 92km/h winds with 113km/h gusts were recorded at Thredbo at 2:43am this morning.

Share

Updated at 

Woman killed after tree falls on cabin

A woman has died after a tree fell on a cabin in southern New South Wales, near Albury.

New South Wales police said it received reports a tree had fallen on a cabin at Moama about 3.50am this morning.

Officers found the body of a woman, aged 63, in the wreckage. She is yet to be formally identified.

A man, aged 63, was treated by paramedics for injuries to his right hand, and taken to Echuca hospital for further treatment.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Police were unable to say whether the tree was brought down by the damaging winds currently lashing parts of the state.

Share

Updated at 

Evacuation order for parts of Tasmania amid flooding

A flood emergency warning has been issued for parts of the Derwent Valley in Tasmania.

Major flooding is likely along the River Derwent this morning, with Meadowbank, Glenora, Bushy Park, Gretna, Macquarie Plains and surrounding areas likely to be impacted.

TasAlert says that over the next six hours, some properties are likely to become isolated or inundated, property is likely to be threatened by flood waters, and driving conditions may become dangerous.

Following heavy rainfall in the last few days, the River Derwent below Meadowbank Dam is currently at 6.92m and rising, likely to exceed the major flood level (7.30m) this morning. It may peak near 7.50m later this afternoon.

There are 10 watch and act alerts in place for flooding across the state.

A severe weather warning for damaging winds is also in place for much of Tasmania’s west coast, including King Island and Furneaux Islands.

A 157km/h wind gust was recorded at King Island airport at 10:38pm last night. A 141km/h wind gust was also recorded at Mount Read, and a 135km/h gust at Cape Grim.

Share

Updated at 

Welcome

Emily Wind

Emily Wind

Good morning, and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage for most of today.

There’s lots of wild weather about today, with severe weather warnings for damaging winds in parts of NSW and the ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. More than 100,000 Victorians remain without power, with trees down and buildings damaged, and in Tasmania, there are emergency warnings in place amid flooding.

Meanwhile in NSW, there is an extreme fire danger rating for the Illawarra, and total fire bans in place for the Illawarra and greater Sydney. We’ll bring you the details on all of this shortly.

The Albanese ministry is in Western Australia this week as it works to bed down seats ahead of the next election. Amy Remeikis will bring us the latest on this in a moment.

And Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am.

As always, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or email – emily.wind@theguardian.com. – with any thoughts, feedback or tips. Let’s get started.



Source link

Leave a Comment