A weekend of wild weather across Australia, including a cyclone, thunderstorms and flooding, has left 1 person dead, prompted dozens of flood rescues and left thousands without electricity.
Western Australia
Cyclone Stan in Western Australia brought heavy rain and flash flooding to parts of the Pilbara region. Western Australia State Emergency Services reported that they carried out several flood rescues on Sunday 31 January 2016. Two men were rescued from the top of their vehicle after becoming trapped in rising floodwaters in Paraburdoo. A woman was trapped in her car near Nullagine and was rescued by boat.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) reported earlier today that the now ex-Tropical Cyclone Stan is moving steadily to the southeast over southern parts of the Interior and is expected to cross the South Australian border to the northeast of Forrest late on 01 February, 2016, bringing with it damaging winds and heavy rainfall.
BoM also said that there is still a risk of flooding in Western Australia, especially in the De Grey River Catchment.
Lucky to be alive! 2 males rescued from vehicle by volunteer DFES this morning in Para. A warning to road users #fb pic.twitter.com/Jnju5ozsvQ
— Paraburdoo Police (@ParaburdooPol) January 31, 2016
Queensland
Cyclone Stan wasn’t the only sever weather event in Australia over the weekend. On Sunday 31 January, one man died after being swept away by floodwaters in an areas south-west of Bundaberg in southern Queensland. Emergency services carried out flood rescues in Wallaville, Glenwood, near Gympie and Appletree Creek, near Childers.
BoM say that 132 mm of rain was recorded at Bundaberg during a 24 hour period between 29 and 30 January. The next day, Walla recorded 148 mm and St Kilda 75 mm.
New South Wales
Parts of New South Wales suffered two consecutive storms between Friday 29 January and Saturday 30 January. Strong wind, with gusts of up to 80 kmh, caused the most severe of the damage, although there were reports of some flash flooding that affected impacted major roads including Parramatta Road, the major east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney.
On Friday the New South Wales State Emergency Services received more than 700 calls for help, including 16 flood rescues. Over 55,000 people in Sydney and Illawarra region were left without electricity at one point.
ACT and Victoria
Storms also affected Canberra and ACT, where emergency services received over 50 calls for help, although no serious damage was reported. In Victoria, heavy rain and severe thunderstorms hit the city of Melbourne on Friday 29 January, where some minor flooding was reported.
