Torrential rain from the remnants of Cyclone Alfred flooded swathes of Australia’s east coast on Monday, as workers battled to restore power to more than 190,000 homes and businesses.
The weather system, which made landfall on Saturday, has battered a 400-kilometre stretch of coast for five days, claiming one life when a driver was swept off a bridge Friday.
Even as the wind and rain eased, authorities issued a string of flood and severe weather warnings across the region, which straddles Queensland and New South Wales.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference in the flood-hit New South Wales city of Lismore that the disaster is far from over.
The bureau of meteorology said the tropical depression dumped 30 centimetres of rain in 24 hours over parts of Queensland’s capital city of Brisbane, as images published in Australian media showed floodwaters swamped some streets in the city and its surrounds, stranding half-submerged cars in the worst-affected areas.
9News Nigeria reports that the wild weather has so far claimed at least one life, after a 61-year-old man’s four-wheel-drive pickup was swept off a bridge Friday in northern New South Wales.
He tried in vain to cling to a tree branch in the river before disappearing into the rapid waters, police said, and his body was found the next day.
In a separate incident Saturday, 13 soldiers were injured and taken to hospital when two army trucks rolled over during a deployment to clear roads near the flood-prone northern New South Wales city of Lismore.
All but one of the troops had been released from hospital by Monday, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
