Jakarta Globe – AFP, Feb 21, 2015
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| This image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows VIIRS infrared imagery from Tropical Storm Marcia as it approaches the eastern coast of Australia on Feb. 19, 2015. (AFP Photo/NOAA/NASA/RAMMB/CIRA) |
Australia
was Saturday assessing the damage from two severe cyclones that left a trail of
destruction, wrecking hundreds of homes and cutting electricity to thousands as
authorities warned of more flooding and gusty winds.
Tropical
Cyclone Marcia barrelled through the northeastern state of Queensland Friday at
the highest-rated category five, ripping apart houses, uprooting trees and
bringing down power lines.
The severe
system hit hours after category four Tropical Cyclone Lam slammed into the
Northern Territory, causing extensive damage to remote Aboriginal communities
near Elcho Island, some 500 kilometers east of the capital Darwin.
Despite the
destruction, authorities have so far not received reports of serious injuries,
missing people, or deaths.
“Everyone
is breathing a deep sigh of relief that there has been, to this date, no loss
of life,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told reporters Saturday.
Both
cyclones have since eased to tropical lows, but the Bureau of Meteorology
warned of flooding, heavy rains, damaging wind gusts and dangerous surf.
Parts of
southeast Queensland, which has already been saturated by a separate weather
system bringing hundreds of millimetres of rain to the region since Thursday,
could be hit by flooding as Marcia tracks south before moving out to sea later
Saturday.
Residents
in the small towns of Jambin and Goovigen south of Rockhampton in central
Queensland were evacuated from their homes as the Callide river flooded.
Flood
warnings have also been issued for northeast New South Wales state just below
Queensland.
Palaszczuk
said preliminary reports showed “a couple of hundred homes” in Yeppoon and
Rockhampton had structural damage.
“The
biggest issue that we are currently facing is power outages,” she said.
“We have
around 60,000 homes without power.”
The Australian
military is assisting with the damage assessment and clean-up, with two
aircraft set to be deployed to central Queensland Saturday, weather permitting.
In the
Northern Territory, a state of emergency has been declared for areas hardest
hit by Lam.
The
territory’s Police and Emergency Services Minister Peter Chandler said the
measure would help communities that have suffered from power,
telecommunications and water outages.
Queensland
has been smashed by several major storms and cyclones over the past few years
with Cyclone Oswald, also a category five, flooding parts of the state in 2013,
racking up insurance claims of some Aus$977 million (US$765 million).
Agence France-Presse
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