Parts of Australia’s east coast were yesterday hit by severe storms, dousing some of the bushfires that have devastated the region for months, but causing road closures and flash flooding.
Fears of smoke from the fires disrupting the Australian Open tennis receded in Melbourne, where the main tournament is due to start tomorrow.
Despite the heavy rain, authorities were still battling nearly 100 blazes — part of the bushfires that have killed 29 people since September last year, destroyed more than 2,500 homes and scorched an area nearly one-third the size of Germany.
Photo: AP
Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, three of the states most hit by drought and bushfires, are now dealing with rain bucketing down in several areas.
Major highways were closed in Queensland, with the state receiving some of the heaviest rain Australia has seen for months, while power was cut in parts of New South Wales after a stormy night.
“Heavy, intense rainfall has eased, but showers and thunderstorms still possible through the weekend,” the Bureau of Meteorology in Queensland wrote on Twitter. “Take care on the roads — if it’s flooded, forget it.”
Parts of Queensland’s south saw triple the monthly rainfall overnight.
No major damage was reported, although some residential areas were flooded and many of the state’s parks and tourist attractions were closed.
New South Wales fire services welcomed the rain, which they said on Twitter would help to control the 75 fires burning in the state, of which 25 have yet to be contained.
However, they also said that some firegrounds have not seen any rain yet.
More benign storms were forecast for Victoria over the weekend, which has already been hit this week by severe storms and unhealthy smoke from the bushfires.
However, skies were clear in Melbourne for the final round of qualifying for the Australian Open, the year’s first Grand Slam, and Victoria’s Environmental Protection rated the air quality as “good,” after an earlier forecast of unhealthy air for the weekend.
There were still more than a dozen fires burning in Victoria, with firefighters battling to contain a big blaze in the state’s mountain region.
Victoria’s emergency services also issued an evacuation warning due to a bushfire for French Island, the state’s largest coastal island, with a small population of just more than 100 people.
Meanwhile, specialist firefighters have saved the world’s last remaining wild stand of a prehistoric tree from wildfires that razed forests west of Sydney, officials have said.
Firefighters winched from helicopters to reach the cluster of fewer than 200 Wollemi Pines in a remote gorge in the Blue Mountains a week before a massive wildlife bore down, Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service Director David Crust said.
The firefighters set up an irrigation system to keep the so-called dinosaur trees moist and pumped water daily from the gorge as the blaze that had burned out of control for more than two month edged closer.
Additional reporting by AP
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