Many Australians yesterday experienced a bittersweet break from the threat of bushfires, with flooding rains deluging some parts of the eastern states and a tropical cyclone forecast to hit the nation’s northwest over the weekend.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued severe thunderstorm warnings for Queensland and a flood alert for more than 20 areas in New South Wales (NSW) after the start of heavy rainfall that is expected to continue for several days.
Warm, moist air feeding in from the east was bringing the rain, bureau forecaster Mike Funnell told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Photo: Reuters
“We are expecting those larger totals and heavier rainfall to come into the northeast coast of NSW and then sort of track slowly southwards,” he said.
A tropical low off the Kimberley coast in Western Australia state was forecast tomorrow to develop into a category three cyclone that could hit the Pilbara region, Australia’s iron ore producing heartland.
The wet weather has helped douse or slow some of the most damaging and long-running wildfires, which have burned through more than 11.7 million hectares of land since September last year.
The prolonged bushfire season has killed 33 people and about 1 billion native animals.
More than 2,500 homes have been destroyed.
However, officials warned that the threat was not yet over and that there will likely be weeks more of firefighting ahead.
About 60 fires were still burning across NSW and Victoria, the nation’s most populous states, with about half of those classified as uncontained.
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