|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wild winds batter Australia
AUSTRALIA (CNN) -- One man has been killed and several others injured as Australia's eastern and southern states are battered by wild wind gusts. The 48-year-old man was killed by tree branches as he attempted to clear a fallen tree on his farm in Victoria state. Another family had a narrow when a large tree fell across the front of their car, while several other people in Victoria received minor injuries caused by falling trees. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology issued wind warnings for four states Wednesday and Thursday, telling people to expect gusts of up to 140 kilometers (90 miles per hour) in parts of Victoria. But by noon on Thursday conditions had eased considerably. Power outageThe winds knocked out power in large parts of Sydney, Melbourne and rural areas while emergency had received more than 2,000 calls for assistance by Thursday morning. Most of the power cuts were caused by trees knocking down electricity lines. Power lines being blown together are also thought responsible for triggering a bushfire in rural NSW which has destroyed about 45 hectares of bushland. Firefighting efforts have been hampered by the rough terrain and the high winds. Hundreds of roofs have been blown of houses in areas to the south of Sydney. State Emergency Services operations officer for Sydney's south division, Pat Johnson, said dry conditions were "a saving grace, especially with the roof damage", Australian Associated Press reports. "They (the distress calls) are mostly for trees down on roofs, cars and quite a few tiles blown off roofs as well," she said. Air travellers between Melbourne and Sydney got an unexpected benefit from the wild weather, however, with flight times cut by more than 30 minutes thanks to strong tail winds.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
