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At least eight people have been killed by heavy storms that are continuing to lash eastern Australia, officials say. Gale-force winds and rising flood waters have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people in New South Wales. More than 130,000 homes remain without electricity near Newcastle, on the Central Coast, and in Sydney. Some 12 ships have run aground in huge seas, and there are fears that one of the vessels - a coal freighter - may break up and spill its fuel. A severe weather warning remains in place, with winds gusting up to 90km/h, Australian weather officials said. The storms have been raging for three days. Source : BBC Science News
Family killed Police put the confirmed death toll at eight, five of them from the same family, with two other people still missing. The family's car was swept away after part of the Old Pacific Highway collapsed on Friday - when the storms began. Rescue workers will try to retrieve the body of the 30-year-old father on Sunday. His body was found on Saturday, but could not be reached due to the extreme weather conditions. The bodies of the mother and three children were found earlier on Saturday. Police said earlier they had found the bodies of a couple in their 50s whose car was washed off a bridge. A 29-year-old man was killed when a tree fell on to his vehicle. Hundreds of people were evacuated, including 65 elderly residents at a Central Coast nursing home, as flood waters continued to rise. Power utility EnergyAustralia said more than 130,000 homes and businesses had no electricity, warning that they could remain blacked out until next week. "This is the worst storm and the worst damage our electricity network has seen for more than 30 years," EnergyAustralia executive general manager Geoff Lilliss was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. Read the Full Story on the BBC Website |
