Torrential rains and flash floods trapped scores of people in homes and cars following a massive cyclone, piling more misery on Australia Saturday after weeks of record inundations. As coastal residents pieced together homes and farms destroyed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, dramatic deluges brought by cyclone activity caused chaos in the state of Victoria, some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away.
Authorities urged residents of the small town of Koo Wee Rup, south-east of Melbourne, to evacuate for fear of flash floods, while more than 80 people were rescued from flood-bound houses and vehicles. An English tourist, 26, was in critical condition with serious head injuries after a gum tree came down on her tent, and a 14-year-old girl was pulled from a swollen river. Emergency services fielded thousands of calls for help.
"There is a simple message for everybody in Victoria at the moment: please take care," warned Victoria state premier Ted Baillieu. Parts of Melbourne, Australia's second biggest city, were lashed by 175 millimetres (6.8 inches) of rain overnight, while flash floods hit the town of Mildura after a record downpour of 200 millimetres on Friday afternoon.
The rains come in the wake of Australia's worst cyclone in a century, which left a trail of destruction and a damage bill of billions of dollars (billions US) after hitting Queensland state on Wednesday, but miraculously caused no known deaths.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.