customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

“Once-in-a-century” floods have turned streets into rivers and forced thousands to abandon their homes in northeast Australia, with authorities warning of tornadoes and more rain over the next few days.
Australia’s tropical north experiences heavy rains during the monsoon season at this time of the year, but the recent downpour has surged far above normal levels.
Thousands of residents in the city of Townsville in Queensland were without power and cut off by flooded roads.
More severe weather could whip up tornadoes and destructive winds in the days ahead, Bureau of Meteorology state manager Bruce Gunn said on Sunday.

Up to 20,000 homes are also at risk of being inundated if the rains continue.
Military personnel were delivering tens of thousands of sandbags to affected locals, as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warned residents to be careful.
“It’s basically not just a one in 20-year event, it’s a one in 100-year event,” she told reporters on Saturday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a slow-moving monsoonal trough was sitting above Queensland, with some areas expected to receive more than a year’s worth of rain before conditions ease.
Bureau meteorologist Adam Blazak said the heavy downpours could continue until Thursday, while floodwaters would take some time to recede even when the rains lessen.
The region receives an average of some 2,000mm of rain annually but some towns were already on track to pass that.

The town of Ingham, north of Townsville, received 506mm of rain in 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday, of which 145mm fell in just one hour, Blazak said.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Townsville resident Chris Brookehouse told national broadcaster ABC, adding that his house was flooded with water more than one metre deep.
“The volume of water is just incredible. Downstairs is gone, the fridge and freezer are floating. Another five or six steps and upstairs is gone too.”

Blazak said that with adverse weather predicted to continue for up to 72 hours, some regions could see record-breaking levels of rainfall.
There has been a silver lining to the deluge, with drought-stricken farmers in western Queensland welcoming the soaking.
“It is a welcome relief, especially in our western communities, to not only get the rain but also to fill up their dams,” Palaszczuk said Sunday.

“We’re getting food supplies in there. We still have many roads that are cut around those areas.”
The deluge comes amid a severe drought in the eastern inland of the vast Australian continent, including parts of Queensland state, that is left graziers struggling to stay afloat.
Extreme heatwaves during the southern hemisphere summer have also led to maximum-temperature records being broken in some towns.

High temperatures are not unusual in Australia during its arid southern hemisphere summer, with bush fires a common occurrence.
But climate change has pushed up land and sea temperatures and led to more extremely hot days and severe fire seasons.
In the southern states of Victoria and Tasmania, firefighters in recent days have been battling numerous bush fires threatening homes and communities.


Huge Australian penguin chick Pesto sets social media abuzz with ‘adorable baby fluff’

US parties find unity in Quad’s potential to counter China in the Indo-Pacific

Hong Kong stocks post biggest weekly gain in nearly 5 months

Bridgerton season 4’s casting of Yerin Ha as Sophie does not mean it’s ‘ruined’ at all

Australia

Thousands in northeast Australia abandon homes as ‘once-in-a-century’ floods leave towns submerged

Bicentennial Park in Queensland, Australia. Photo: Queensland Fire and Emergency Services/Handout

epa07340012 A handout photo made available by the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) shows QFES crews responding to flood conditions in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 03 February 2019. Between 400 and 500 homes have been inundated in Townsville amid North Queensland's flood crisis. Thousands of residents downstream from the Ross River dam were evacuated after flash floods hit the region following heavy rains. EPA-EFE/QUEENSLAND FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICES HANDOUT AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

A man reclines on a unicorn float in floodwater on Bowen Road in Rosslea district, Townsville, Queensland, Australia Feburary 3, 2019 in this still taken from social media video. Nathan Hughes via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. MANDATORY CREDIT.

Rocks are seen blocking Muller Street in Wulguru, Townsville, as flooding continues in northern Queensland, Australia February 1, 2019. Picture taken February 1, 2019. AAP Image/Andrew Rankin/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVE. AUSTRALIA OUT. NEW ZEALAND OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN NEW ZEALAND. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN AUSTRALIA.?

epa07340011 Residents evacuating to higher ground in Hermit Park, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 03 February 2019. Thousands of residents downstream from the Ross River dam were evacuated after flash floods hit the region following heavy rains. EPA-EFE/ANDREW RANKIN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

epa07340010 Graham Crighton kayaking in flood waters in Hermit Park, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 03 February 2019. Thousands of residents downstream from the Ross River dam were evacuated after flash floods hit the region following heavy rains. EPA-EFE/ANDREW RANKIN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

epa07337694 A man walks through flood water in Rosslea, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, 02 February 2019. Thousands of residents downstream from the Ross River dam were evacuated after flash floods hit the region following heavy rains, media reported. EPA-EFE/ANDREW RANKIN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

Searing heatwave hits Australia, New Zealand, ahead of Lunar New Year surge of Chinese tourists

Heat haze on a beach in Auckland. Photo: New Zealand Herald

(190109) -- CANBERRA, Jan. 9, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on Jan. 7, 2019 shows an ostrich enjoying the shower in heat wave at the National Zoo & Aquarium in Canberra, capital of Australia. As heat wave sweeps Canberra, the Australian National Zoo and Aquarium finds many ways to help animals prevent from the heat. (Xinhua/Pan Xiangyue)

This recent undated handout photo released to AFP on January 24, 2019 by the Adelaide Zoo shows Warru, a black-footed rock wallaby, licking an ice bowl to cool down in the heat at Adelaide Zoo in the South Australia city of Adelaide. - Temperatures in southern Australia topped 49 degrees Centigrade (120 F) on January 24, shattering previous records as sizzling citizens received free beer and heat-stressed bats fell from trees. (Photo by Handout / ADELAIDE ZOO / AFP) / -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / ADELAIDE ZOO" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - NO ARCHIVES

Australia fears ecological disaster after thousands more fish die in eastern states plagued by drought

Dead fish along the Darling River bank in Menindee, New South Wales, Australia. Another mass fish kill has been reported in the same area. Photo: AP

This image made from a video taken on Jan. 8, 2019, shows dead fish on the Darling River in Menindee, New South Wales, Australia. An Australian state government on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 announced plans to mechanically pump oxygen into lakes and rivers after hundreds of thousands of fish have died in heatwave conditions. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

Citizens cool off with free beer as South Australia heatwave smashes record temperatures

Teens jump of the jetty at Glenelg beach during a hot day in Adelaide, South Australia. Photo: EPA

‘It’s been like hell’: Temperatures in Australian towns soar to nearly 50 degrees Celsius as heatwave worsens

Beachgoers at Bondi Beach in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 29 December 2018. Photo: EPA

epa07249077 An aerial view of people crowding the popular Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia, 26 December 2018 as they enjoy the sunny weather. EPA-EFE/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

epaselect epa07288514 The peloton during stage two of the Tour Down Under from Norwood to Angaston in South Australia, Australia, 16 January 2019. EPA-EFE/DAVID MARIUZ AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

epa07261022 Swimmers are seen as the cool change arrives at St.Kilda beach in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 04 January 2019. Hot, windy conditions swept across Victoria with Avalon reaching 44 degrees Celsius. EPA-EFE/JULIAN SMITH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

epa07253824 Harry Mayer of Lurnea plays with a garden hose in this parent's backyard on a hot day in Liverpool, Sydney, Australia, 30 December 2018. EPA-EFE/BRENDAN ESPOSITO AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

News

Asia

Australasia

The weather is not expected to let up, with authorities warning of tornadoes and more rain over the next few days
Up to 20,000 homes are at risk of being inundated if the rains continue


The weather is not expected to let up, with authorities warning of tornadoes and more rain over the next few days.


Extreme weather

Thousands in northeast Australia abandon homes as ‘once-in-a-century’ floods leave towns submerged

The weather is not expected to let up, with authorities warning of tornadoes and more rain over the next few days Up to 20,000 homes are at risk of being inundated if the rains continue

The weather is not expected to let up, with authorities warning of tornadoes and more rain over the next few days

Up to 20,000 homes are at risk of being inundated if the rains continue