Australia hit by storms at Christmas
Severe storms rage in eastern Australia on Boxing Day. Nine people are killed in the storms. Tens of thousands of households are temporarily without power. The danger for people on the coast has not yet been averted.
At least nine people have died in severe storms in eastern Australia. Police reported that three people drowned in the sea near the city of Brisbane when their boat capsized. Eight survivors were rescued from the water and taken to hospital. "It's been a very tragic 24 hours because of the weather," Queensland State Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll told journalists.
In the town of Gympie in Queensland, three women were swept into a stormwater drain during flash floods on Tuesday, according to the authorities. A 40-year-old woman was killed, one woman survived. The third woman was temporarily missing. Her body was recovered by police divers on Wednesday.
In a suburb of Brisbane, the body of a nine-year-old girl was recovered after being swept away by the water. There were also fatalities in the state of Victoria in south-eastern Australia. The energy supplier Energex declared that it was working quickly to restore the power supply in Queensland. More than 80,000 households were still without power.
Consequence of climate change
Heavy thunderstorms with strong winds have hit eastern Australia in recent days. In Queensland, tens of thousands of households lost power because electricity pylons were knocked down. The Australian Weather Service also warned of "dangerous" storms, "life-threatening" floods, "huge" hailstones and "destructive" winds in Queensland.
Australia is particularly affected by climate change. A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February 2022 assumes that the country will be exposed to even more devastating natural events in the future.
Read also:
- Snow chaos further restricts Bavaria
- "Zoltan" sweeps across the country - disruptions to rail traffic
- "Zoltan" brings masses of water, rail chaos and suspected tornadoes
- Heavy rain and snow expected after storm depression
The heavy thunderstorms in Australia, a consequence of climate change, have resulted in dangerous storms, life-threatening floods, and destructive winds in Queensland. These conditions led to power outages affecting tens of thousands of households in Brisbane and other parts of Australia during the Christmas period. International concern was sparked as bad weather events continue to pose significant risks to people along the coast, as observed in this recent catastrophe in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Source: www.ntv.de
