The Guardian,like all media is trying to paint this as 'normal' weather for April, which is 'normally' wetter than other months
NSW storm: house washed away as Sydney and Hunter region lashed by wild weather
- Woman in critical condition as 20 people rescued from flood waters
- 180,000 homes without power
- SES advises roads are ‘far too dangerous’ for travel
21
April, 2015
From the Sydney Morning Herald
This shocking weather is a warning to us all ... from 'up there'
The
woman is understood to have suffered a cardiac arrest and was
transported to hospital. Along with her partner she was among about
20 people from Stroud, north of Newcastle, who have been rescued from
floodwaters, with 10 of them airlifted from rooftops.
State
emergency service deputy commissioner Steve Pearce said, “we have
other rescues on at the moment and in some of those situations we
hold grave concerns for those persons.”
Dozens
of people were stranded, but safe, in the showground at Stroud. A
school bus was also swept off the road, but there were no children on
board and the driver has since been winched to safety, according to
2GB.
“It’s
basically like a flood island,” Pearce said. “They’re safe but
we just can’t get access to them due to no light and also the
ferocious winds.”
Reports
were coming in from various locations of homes with their roofs torn
off. Pearce said people should stay at home.
“The
roads are far too dangerous. Flash flooding is everywhere throughout
the Sydney metropolitan and surrounding areas,” he said.
“We
have multiple people being caught in the floodwaters. Please do not
attempt to walk, ride or drive through floodwater.”
The
cruise ship Carnival Spirit remains trapped outside Sydney Heads
because of a massive swell, and may be there for the next 48 hours.
Passengers were due to disembark from the ship on Tuesday morning but
the large swell has prevented the ship from entering the harbour.
“The
Sydney harbourmaster has closed the port of Sydney and Botany,
possibly for the next 48 hours,” a spokesman from the NSW port
authority said.
A
passenger from Sydney aboard Carnival Spirit said the waves on the
coast were massive. “It’s not pleasant, it’s been like this all
night,” she told ABC radio over the phone. “I don’t think many
people got much sleep.”
Dangerous
surf conditions closed down several beaches across Sydney and the
rest of the NSW coast, including at Bondi.
Sydney
ferries have also been affected by the wild weather. The Manly to
Circular Quay service has been suspended due to adverse weather
conditions, according to a Sydney Ferries spokeswoman.
Ferries
on the Parramatta river are also starting and terminating at
Meadowbank due to severe tides at Rydalmere and overflowing at
Parramatta Weir.
The
University of Newcastle has been closed with students and staff being
told to stay away from the university’s Callaghan, Newcastle City
and Ourimbah campuses. Live-in students have been put on stand-by and
told to register with the university via SMS.
The
State Emergency Service had responded to more than 3,000 calls for
help, and completed 19 flood rescues by 8am, with most requests
coming from the greater Sydney region.
Many
of the jobs were due to roof damage, including half a roof blown off
a Cessnock City unit and a tree that went through the roof of a
nursing home in Wyong.
“We
have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers out in the field and we are
calling in more from other parts of Sydney and now up onto the Hunter
area,” Pearce told the ABC.
Pearce
said the police and NSW Fire and Rescue had been called in to help
the SES, with many more calls expected as the morning went on.
“We’ve
had 24 hours of relentless gale-force winds. I haven’t seen this
wind damage for years,” Pearce said.
Authorities
were warning people in Sydney, the central coast and Hunter regions
to beware of downed power lines, saying storm debris could be hiding
live lines.
At
least one person was rescued from floodwaters at Parramatta, while
others were pulled out of stranded cars in other parts of the state.
“These
jobs are a reminder to never drive, ride or walk through floodwater,”
said an SES spokeswoman, Stephanie Wills.
The
Bureau of Meteorology said the weather was the result of an intense,
slow-moving low pressure system near where the Hunter and Mid North
Coast regions meet. The system was expected to move gradually south
throughout Tuesday.
More
than 300mm of rain has fallen on some of the affected areas in the
past 24 hours. Destructive winds of 90 to 100 kmh, with gusts to 135
kmh, were forecast for coastal parts of the Hunter district,
including the central coast.
Less
strong but still damaging winds were expected along the coastal
fringe of the Metropolitan, Mid North Coast and Illawarra districts.
Heavy
rain was also expected in the Hunter and elsewhere, and there was a
warning out for very heavy surf.
The
storms were expected to pummel parts of NSW throughout the day,
giving crews little chance of a proper cleanup effort. Ausgrid said
many homes and businesses would be without power throughout the day
and into Wednesday.
There
was a danger of flooding in the Manning, Karuah, Hunter, Wyong and
Lower Hawkesbury valleys, as well as Lake Macquarie and the Paterson
and Williams rivers.
Video: home washed away by floods
Extraordinary scenes purportedly from Dungog, north of Newcastle: a home literally pulled from its foundations by floodwaters. About 312mm of rain have fallen in the town in the past 24 hours.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.