A cyclonic storm yesterday lashing Australia’s east coast for a third day was declared a catastrophe after destroying houses, cutting power to more than 200,000 homes and causing millions of Australian dollars of damage in Sydney and other cities.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned that a second storm cell was gathering at sea north of Sydney, with gale force winds of up to 100kph and heavy winds hitting the coast.
Several international flights to and from Sydney Airport were diverted, while the port of Newcastle, the world’s biggest coal export port, was closed.
“We still have some difficult hours ahead of us as this weather pattern continues to move through,” New South Wales Premier Mike Baird told reporters.
“It’s still very dangerous,” he said. “We’re seeing a continuation of the wind, rain and flash flooding.”
Three people, two men and a woman, were found dead yesterday in the town of Dungog, about 200km north of Sydney. Media reports described them as elderly and said they were trapped in their homes as flood-waters rose.
The State Emergency Services said three people were missing near the town of Maitland, about 165km north of Sydney, after their cars were washed away by floodwaters.
Amateur video footage showed a house in Dungog floating away as floodwaters swept through the town.
The Insurance Council of Australia yesterday declared the storms a catastrophe as thousands of claims worth hundreds of millions of Australian dollars rolled in.
“There’s no doubt there will be a natural disaster declaration ... and obviously we want to get on with the job of recovery as quickly as we possibly can,” Baird said.
Cyclone-strength winds of up to 135kph and heavy rain across the state have uprooted trees, some crushing cars, and snapped power poles. Transport networks have been hit, with train stations and roads flooded, and traffic lights knocked out.
Three hospitals were without power and had to rely on generators, and hundreds of schools were closed.
A spokeswoman said there was no time frame for reopening the port of Newcastle, which last year sent out 159 million tonnes of thermal and steel-making coal. Prices for coal cargoes delivered next month from Newcastle have soared 10 percent since the beginning of the week as traders expected export delays due to the storm.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
IN ABSENTIA: The MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London, a niece of deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheik Hasina, condemned the ‘flawed and farcical’ trial A court in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced British Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail after a judge ruled she was complicit in corrupt land deals with her aunt, the country’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. A judge found Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of misusing her “special influence” as a British politician to coerce Hasina into giving valuable pieces of land to her mother, brother and sister. Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, was given seven years in prison and considered the prime participant in the case. The trial had been carried out in absentia: Neither Hasina, Siddiq,
RSS