Sunday Times 2
Wild winds hit Australian coast amid flood warnings
View(s):SYDNEY, Jan 26 (AFP) -Destructive “tornadoes” hit Australia’s northeast coast today, as officials warned parts of Queensland state to prepare for flooding, with torrential rains lashing the state set to intensify.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said wild gusts had caused much damage in Bargara near Bundaberg, about 300 kilometres (185 miles) north of Brisbane.
“We’ve had… what appears to be a mini-tornado, there are reports of significant damage,” he told reporters in Brisbane. Bargara resident Judith McNamara told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she saw a tree fly through the air.
“I was standing here at the kitchen and all of a sudden this big vacuum sort of came like that through here. I looked up and the next thing the tree went flying through the air, that tree and the car went up,” she said.
Queensland has experienced days of extremely heavy rainfall in the wake of tropical cyclone Oswald, and Newman warned that the government had concerns about potential flooding.
Newman said south east Queensland is expected to receive up to 300 millimetres of rainfall in the coming days as he warned that many beaches were closed due to high winds, high tides and dangerous surf conditions.
“The rain event has only just started, there will be more intense rain over the next two days,” he said.
Queensland experienced massive floods in early 2011 that ultimately claimed more than 30 lives, flooded thousands of homes and brought the state’s capital Brisbane to a standstill, and Newman said he was aware that people were anxious.
But he said the city’s dams, which were already releasing controlled discharges, would be able to absorb the current floodwaters.
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