At least 11 people died by drowning or falling from trees during storms that hit eastern Australia this week, authorities said Thursday.
A schoolboy died after being hit by a “large branch” in the town of Gowangardie, in the southeastern state of Victoria, local police said.
Also in Vitória, authorities recorded three more deaths between Tuesday and Wednesday.
In the neighboring state of Queensland, the death toll rose to seven, including a 9-year-old girl who was swept away by flash floods.
Torrential rain, winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour, flooding and, in some cases, hailstorms left more than 124,000 people without power in southern Queensland on Christmas Day. Around 45,000 people are still waiting for service to be restored.
Australian forecasters have predicted strong thunderstorms to hit south-east Queensland over the weekend.
The storms that hit New South Wales between Sunday and Tuesday flooded several streets and the Sydney airport, while dozens of homes were damaged by hail in the city’s suburbs.
Australia faced a season of heavy rain on the east coast, despite drier than usual weather this southern summer due to El Niño, a natural phenomenon caused by currents in the Pacific Ocean that, aggravated by global warming, can cause devastating disasters.
Source: TSF
