SYDNEY, Feb 9, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Weakening tropical cyclone Damien battered
northwestern Australia’s resource-rich Pilbara region on Sunday, as storms
brought heavy rains and flooding to the country’s bushfire-ravaged east.
The cyclone was downgraded to a Category One storm Sunday after making
landfall late Saturday as a Category Three, when it brought winds of 195
kilometres per hour (121 miles per hour) at its peak and forced residents to
hunker down indoors under a code red emergency warning.
The Bureau of Meteorology said Damien was weakening as it moved southeast
through the sparsely populated central Pilbara on Sunday, bringing winds of
up to 100 kilometres an hour and heavy rainfall that was expected to cause
flooding.
“Tropical Cyclone Damien will continue to weaken as it moves further
inland,” the bureau said.
The storm reportedly downed trees, ripped roofs off sheds and knocked out
power in the small coastal towns of Dampier and Karratha.
Meanwhile, Australia’s east coast has been lashed with days of rainfall
that has caused flash flooding in New South Wales and Queensland.
Flood warnings were issued for more than a dozen rivers across the two
states, including in Sydney, home to about five million people and the
country’s biggest city, which has been drenched by heavy rainfall.
New South Wales police said they had rescued dozens of motorists who were
trapped after driving their cars into floodwaters, as well as a teenager who
spent two hours in waist-deep water after falling into a river in the Hunter
Valley region.
Emergency services said they also received hundreds of calls for assistance
as trees, boulders and power poles fell onto cars and homes, and power went
out in some areas.
The heavy rain comes after months of bushfires, with the downpours dousing
blazes that have burned out of control for months and raising hopes for an
end to the unprecedented crisis.
One major fire — a 500,000-hectare (1.2 million-acre) blaze south of
Sydney — was declared out late Saturday as a result of the rains while
several drought-stricken areas also received downpours.
The wet weather, which began earlier in the week in some areas, is forecast
to extend into next week.