As per reports, Gusts and torrential rain have blacked out more than 300,000 properties and flooded parts of Australia’s east coast. After days hovering off the coast as a category 2 tropical cyclone ‘Alfred’ has weakened into a tropical depression before making landfall. It generated heavy weather across the region. Near 15,000 people are under emergency warnings related to the weather system in New South Wales.
As the remnants of the cyclone moved inland, thousands of people remained without power. Knee-high water could be seen pouring through roads in some of the worst-hit areas of southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales.
Cyclones develop from low pressure systems that develop over warm oceans in the tropics, and generally intensify over several days, generating severe winds, strong rain and flooding. Cyclones produce very strong and potentially destructive winds that rotate clockwise around a calm center.
A total of 23cm of rain had descended on the Queensland resort of Hervey Bay in the past hours, flooding homes and forcing emergency rescues in rapid waters. More than 1,000 schools shuttered across the state would gradually start reopening.
Utility companies said about 290,000 homes and businesses in southeast Queensland and another 16,000 in northeast New South Wales were without power. “Customers need to be prepared to be without power for several days,” informed Queensland’s Essential Energy representative.
The biggest challenges to get power back are rising flood waters and swollen creek beds, fallen vegetation and mudslides impacting access roads. About 14,600 people are under emergency warnings related to the weather system in New South Wales, the state’s emergency services said.
In the last 24 hours, many incidents have occurred as a result of people driving into flood waters. It is not only a danger to self and family, it is also dangerous as well for the volunteers, the emergency services workers-rescuers. that need to rescue you.”
Beach erosion is also seen following Cyclone Alfred on the Gold Coast, Australia. In a separate incident, 13 troops were injured and taken to hospital when two army trucks rolled over during a deployment to clear roads near the flood-prone New South Wales city of Lismore.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that the weather was still perilous. “The situation in Queensland and northern New South Wales remains very serious due to flash flooding and heavy winds,” Albanese said. “Heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts and coastal surf impacts are expected to continue over coming days.”
As such, severe weather warnings were in force for a broad area of southeast Queensland. Heavy to intense rainfall may produce dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding. through the rest of Sunday,” it said, warning also of possible heavy rainfall in parts of New South Wales.
In the Southern Hemisphere, cyclones spin clockwise but they spin anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. These are called tropical cyclones in Australia; typhoons in the Northwest Pacific Ocean; and, hurricanes in the northern Atlantic Ocean, central North Pacific Ocean and the Eastern North Pacific.
But cyclones are not like the tornadoes one sees in movies, which are massive, localized whirlwinds that can last from a few seconds to about half an hour. Cyclones are much bigger and last much, much longer — for days or even weeks.
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Commencing teaching in his early twenties, Prof Aggarwal has diverse experience of great tenure in the top institutions not only as an educationist, administrator, editor, author but also promoting youth and its achievements through the nicest possible content framing. A revolutionary to the core, he is also keen to address the society around him for its betterment and growth on positive notes while imbibing the true team spirit the work force along with.
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