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Eastern Australia suffers its worstflooding in years

Flood waters swamp a football team's clubhouse in the Gippsland region of Victoria yesterday as the Bureau of Meteorology issued flood warnings for much of southeast Victoria, predicting rainfall of 100mm and winds of 140kph on top of heavy flooding already experienced. PHOTO: AFP

Dramatic flooding replaced relentless drought in parts of eastern Australia yesterday, as Prime Minister John Howard expressed hopes that the country's worst drought in a century may be coming to an end.

Some residents of towns in the Gippsland region of Victoria state had to be rescued from the fast-rising floods that left only the roofs of houses above water in an area more used to worrying about lack of rain.

Officials warned that the floods could be the area's worst for a decade, as similar flooding also engulfed the New South Wales town of Goulburn, which has been under severe water restrictions for more than two years.

But with forecasters declaring the "El Nino" weather pattern blamed for the drought had ended and predicting the onset of the wetter "La Nina" system, Howard said he hoped climactic conditions may be turning.

But the prime minister, who last month urged Australians to pray for rain after announcing severe water restrictions in Australia's food bowl, the Murray-Darling Basin, was cautious about whether the experts were correct.

"I hope they're right, we can all say hallelujah," Howard told reporters. "We hope they're right, but let's wait and see.

"We've had a lot of rain, not all of it in the right places, and we still have to keep our fingers crossed that we can get more water into the Murray-Darling Basin."

Howard's comments came as the Victoria State Emergency Services said torrential rain over the past two days had resulted in the worst flooding in 17 years, leaving 10,000 homes without power.

Police said a 60-year-old man was killed when a tree toppled onto his house.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued flood warnings for much of southeast Victoria, predicting 10cm of rainfall and winds of 140km per hour.

The floods followed wild weather in New South Wales state last month that claimed nine lives north of Sydney.

In further evidence that the drought is breaking, the Upper Lachlan Council in NSW announced it had lifted all water restrictions after dams filled to capacity for the first time in years.

At nearby Goulburn, which has been on Australia's toughest water restrictions since October 2004, the local council said it was set to ease controls on Friday after the long-awaited rains brought localized flooding.

Goulburn residents will be able to wash their cars and take a lengthy shower for the first time in three-and-a-half years after the town of 27,000 people enjoyed its wettest June in a decade.

A Bureau of Meteorology report this week said that international models showed there was a good chance of a drought-breaking La Nina weather pattern forming.

"After stalling for around a month, there are renewed signs from the Pacific Basin which are consistent with the early stages of a La Nina event," the report said.

El Nino is an occasional warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that typically happens every four to seven years and disrupts weather patterns from the western seaboard of Latin America to East Africa for 12-18 months.
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