Wild storms ravage Australia: One dead, over 1.2 lakh without power – Times of India
barsharaju@gmail.com
Wild storms ravaged Australia‘s southeast on Monday, causing the death of a 63-year-old woman, shutting down schools, and leaving around 1.2 lakh without power. Destructive winds exceeding 110 kilometers per hour led to widespread chaos and outages, with about 150,000 people affected.
Police reported that the woman died when a tree fell on a cabin in the region.Victorian state premier Jacinta Allan indicated power outages could take up to three days to resolve due to hazardous conditions. “There are some areas where the conditions remain too dangerous to make repairs,” she said. She further addressed the power outage issue and said Allan reported that at least 121,000 people were still without power on Monday, a decrease from the peak of 180,000 earlier that morning.
Coastal areas have experienced high tides, with sand dunes being washed away in some locations. People were advised to avoid unnecessary travel, prompting the closure of some schools.
In New South Wales, authorities expressed concerns about an increased fire danger on Monday, with several regions on high alert. Ben Shepherd, an inspector with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, warned that Sydney and its surrounding areas would face the highest fire danger on Monday, though conditions were expected to improve by the afternoon.
Tasmania faced significant flooding and destructive winds over the weekend, with wind speeds reaching up to 150 kilometers per hour. Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Christie Johnson attributed the severe weather to multiple cold fronts moving through Australia’s southeast.
“Damaging to destructive winds” were caused by a series of cold fronts, but Johnson anticipated a reprieve in the conditions by Tuesday.
Despite the expected easing of conditions, Johnson warned that additional cold fronts are expected later in the week, though they are not predicted to be as severe.
“Further cold fronts will impact the country later in the week, but conditions are not anticipated to be as extreme,” Johnson noted.
Australia’s exposure to extreme weather events is heightened due to its remote location in the Pacific Ocean. The country recently recorded its warmest winter, with temperatures reaching up to 41.6 degrees Celsius in parts of its northwest coast.
Climate change has been a contributing factor to the intensifying weather patterns, leading to more severe bushfires, floods, droughts, and heatwaves. Average temperatures in Australia have shown a steady rise, according to official data.
Shepard told AFP that the upcoming summer posed a significant fire risk due to the rapid drying of vegetation. A few days of hot and windy weather could leave this vegetation highly susceptible to ignition.
Climate scientists predict that 2024 could be the planet’s hottest year on record, as global temperature records have continually been broken in recent decades.
In recent weeks alone, record temperatures have been noted in the Mediterranean Sea and Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago, underscoring the ongoing impact of rising temperatures worldwide.
Police reported that the woman died when a tree fell on a cabin in the region.Victorian state premier Jacinta Allan indicated power outages could take up to three days to resolve due to hazardous conditions. “There are some areas where the conditions remain too dangerous to make repairs,” she said. She further addressed the power outage issue and said Allan reported that at least 121,000 people were still without power on Monday, a decrease from the peak of 180,000 earlier that morning.
Coastal areas have experienced high tides, with sand dunes being washed away in some locations. People were advised to avoid unnecessary travel, prompting the closure of some schools.
In New South Wales, authorities expressed concerns about an increased fire danger on Monday, with several regions on high alert. Ben Shepherd, an inspector with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, warned that Sydney and its surrounding areas would face the highest fire danger on Monday, though conditions were expected to improve by the afternoon.
Tasmania faced significant flooding and destructive winds over the weekend, with wind speeds reaching up to 150 kilometers per hour. Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Christie Johnson attributed the severe weather to multiple cold fronts moving through Australia’s southeast.
“Damaging to destructive winds” were caused by a series of cold fronts, but Johnson anticipated a reprieve in the conditions by Tuesday.
Despite the expected easing of conditions, Johnson warned that additional cold fronts are expected later in the week, though they are not predicted to be as severe.
“Further cold fronts will impact the country later in the week, but conditions are not anticipated to be as extreme,” Johnson noted.
Australia’s exposure to extreme weather events is heightened due to its remote location in the Pacific Ocean. The country recently recorded its warmest winter, with temperatures reaching up to 41.6 degrees Celsius in parts of its northwest coast.
Climate change has been a contributing factor to the intensifying weather patterns, leading to more severe bushfires, floods, droughts, and heatwaves. Average temperatures in Australia have shown a steady rise, according to official data.
Shepard told AFP that the upcoming summer posed a significant fire risk due to the rapid drying of vegetation. A few days of hot and windy weather could leave this vegetation highly susceptible to ignition.
Climate scientists predict that 2024 could be the planet’s hottest year on record, as global temperature records have continually been broken in recent decades.
In recent weeks alone, record temperatures have been noted in the Mediterranean Sea and Norway’s Arctic Svalbard archipelago, underscoring the ongoing impact of rising temperatures worldwide.
