Australia storm cuts power to 110,000 homes, kills one

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A frame grab from a handout video footage by the Queensland Police Service showing a damaged part of the Mulligan Highway near the northern Australian town of Cooktown, after heavy rainfall caused major flash flooding. AFP pic/Queensland Police Service. — AFP pic

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SYDNEY, Dec 26 — Christmas night thunderstorms and strong winds cut power to 110,000 homes in eastern Australia and toppled a tree that killed one woman, officials said today.

People lost electricity as the storm wrought “catastrophic” damage, downing power lines in Queensland’s capital Brisbane and the Gold Coast area, energy company Energex said.

“There is no easy way to say this but some customers will not have power for days — we’re looking at catastrophic and widespread damage on the scale of a cyclone,” it said in an update on social media.

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“Reports of further damage are coming through every minute.”

Queensland’s ambulance service said a 59-year-old woman was struck by a falling tree on a street in the Gold Coast.

“She unfortunately suffered a significant head injury and passed away. We were unable to revive her, which was really quite confronting,” said critical care paramedic Jaye Newton, who was at the scene.

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Another falling tree trapped a woman in her car for more than an hour, he told reporters.

“It was like a disaster zone, there were trees just all over the road,” Newton said, describing how winds had uprooted trees and blown tiles off roofs.

Severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts, large hail and heavy rainfall were forecast for later today, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

“Isolated very dangerous severe thunderstorms possible again,” it warned on social media, also issuing a major flooding alert for a river about 40 kilometres inland from the Gold Coast. — AFP