Floods hit eastern Australia, 190,000 properties blacked out

GOLD COAST, Australia: 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-kms stretch of coast for five days, claiming one life when a driver was swept off a bridge on 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.

“This event is far from over,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a news conference in the flood-hit New South Wales city of Lismore. “We need to continue to not be complacent.” The tropical depression dumped 30 centimetres (one foot) of rain in 24 hours over parts of Queensland´s capital city of Brisbane, the bureau of meteorology said.

Floodwaters swamped some streets in the city and its surrounds, stranding half-submerged cars in the worst-affected areas, images published in Australian media showed. Emergency services rescued 17 people from fast-moving waters in Queensland overnight, the state´s premier, David Crisafulli said.

“Rainfall is leading to flash flooding as well as river flooding in parts of the southeast,” he told a news conference. “We are urging people to stay connected because of the prospect of more intense flooding during the course of today.”