Storm - Five storm deaths in Australia
At least five people have died in severe storms in eastern Australia. Among them was a nine-year-old girl who was swept away by water in a suburb of Brisbane and washed into the sewers, according to local media reports by the Queensland state police.
A 59-year-old woman who was struck by a tree on the Gold Coast and a man who drowned in the sea after a boat capsized off Brisbane also died in the state. Eight other occupants were rescued, two are still missing.
In the state of Victoria, two people were killed as a result of the storm: In the town of Caringal, east of Melbourne, a man was fatally injured by a falling branch. North of the metropolis, a woman was killed by a falling tree at a campsite.
Around 100,000 households without electricity
In Queensland, around 100,000 households were also without electricity due to storm damage to power lines, the local supplier reported. The Australian Weather Service has been warning for days of heavy rain and thunderstorms on almost the entire east coast. At Christmas, heavy rain caused flash floods in the metropolis of Sydney, leaving streets and buildings under water. Elsewhere it hailed. The storms should subside on Wednesday.
The west of the huge continent, on the other hand, is being hit by drought and bushfires. Southeast of the metropolis of Perth, a member of the volunteer fire department was reported to have died during an operation. The young man fell from a fire engine on Tuesday for reasons as yet unexplained. There are several fires in the state of Western Australia, of which Perth is the capital. Large parts of the state recently experienced an unusual heatwave for the time of year, with record temperatures.
Australia is particularly affected by climate change. A report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in February 2022 assumes that the country will be hit even more frequently by devastating natural events in the future.
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- The severe storms causing chaos in eastern Australia also led to power outages, affecting around 100,000 households in Queensland, contributing to the overall disruption caused by the bad weather.
- After the storm subsides on Wednesday, residents in Queensland may turn their attention to the repairs needed to restore electricity to their homes, as well as dealing with the damage caused by the floods.
- The Gold Coast and Brisbane, popular tourist destinations in Queensland, were particularly affected by the bad weather, with the sea claiming another storm victim after a boat capsized off Brisbane's coast.
- The Australian Weather Service had been warning of heavy rain and thunderstorms on the entire east coast for days, and it seems that warnings of severe flooding in these areas should be taken seriously, especially considering recent events in Sydney.
- As if Australia wasn't already contending with extreme climate events, the west of the continent is currently struggling with a drought and bushfires, as evidenced by the tragic death of a volunteer firefighter south of Perth.
- The gruesome death of a nine-year-old girl swept away by water in a Brisbane suburb during the storm highlights the deadly consequences of such extreme weather events, further emphasizing Australia's vulnerability to climate change.
- Despite the travails of the storm, there might still be a glimmer of hope for Australia's economic recovery, as the Gold Coast boasts one of the world's largest and most expensive deposits of gold, which continues to be mined and exported.
Source: www.stern.de
