Strong winds and torrential rain brought by Cyclone Alfred have left more than a quarter of a million homes on Australia's east coast in darkness, leaving one driver dead and a dozen soldiers injured, authorities said today.
After days moving away from the coast as a Category 2 tropical cyclone and battering 400 kilometers (250 miles) of coastline, Alfred weakened to a tropical depression before making landfall yesterday evening.
But as the remnants of the cyclone moved inland, hundreds of thousands of people were left without power today and video images showed knee-deep water flowing along roads in some of the worst-hit areas of southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.
A total of 23 centimetres (nine inches) of rain fell in the resort of Hervey Bay, Queensland, in just a few hours, flooding homes and forcing emergency rescue operations in the fast-moving water, state Premier David Crisafulli told a news conference. He added that more than 1,000 schools that had been closed across the state would gradually begin to reopen tomorrow.
Utility companies said about 268,000 homes in southeast Queensland and 12,500 homes in northeast New South Wales were still without power today.
"Customers should be prepared to be without power for a few days," Queensland Essential Energy said. "The biggest challenges to restoring power will be rising floodwaters, swollen stream beds, downed vegetation and muddy water," they said in a statement.
State emergency services said there are currently about 14,600 people in New South Wales with emergency warnings related to climate change.
In the past 24 hours, there have been 17 incidents of people driving into floodwaters, "which is dangerous not only for you and your family, but also for the emergency services volunteers who have to rescue you," said Damian Johnson, deputy commissioner for emergency services.
In another incident yesterday, police said 13 soldiers were injured and taken to hospital after two military trucks overturned while clearing roads near the flood-prone New South Wales city of Lismore.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told a news conference that twelve soldiers remain in hospital today, two of whom are in critical condition.
Prime Minister Antony Albanese warned that the weather was still dangerous.
"The situation in Queensland and northern New South Wales remains very serious, with flash flooding and strong winds," Mr Albanese said. "Heavy rain, damaging winds and coastal waves are expected to continue in the coming days."
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