Cyclone Helen batters Northern Australia by Elizabeth Saary
A cyclone watch is still in force across north Australia as Cyclone Helen crossed the Northern Territory through the early hours of today. The cyclone brought torrential rain and gale force winds to the city of Darwin bringing widespread damage and local floods and threatening isolated communities in the sparsely populated region.
Darwin City Council began the massive clean up operation of clearing away debris and fallen trees which were strewn across the city.
Tropical cyclone Helen weakened to a storm after moving inland, but the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said it was likely to regenerate back into a cyclone as it headed out into the warm Gulf of Carpentaria. Communities along Queensland’s Gulf of Carpentaria coastline are on high alert as they expect the cyclone to slam in by tomorrow. Helen is continuing to track in an easterly direction at 10mph (16km/h).
Cyclones are not uncommon in Australia and affect northern and western parts between November and April. However forecasters have said that the cooler than normal Pacific sea temperatures could lead to the current cyclone season being more active than usual and bringing the risk of increased rainfall.
Meanwhile, in Northeastern Australia, a deep low pressure system has brought prolonged and torrential rain across much of Queensland producing flooding. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes as floodwaters inundated villages. Rivers have swelled to dangerous levels throughout southern Queensland and northern New South Wales after around 30cm (12 inches) of rain fell in places overnight. Although some areas have had damaging floods, authorities have welcomed the rains as dam levels have improved greatly across the region after suffering from persistent drought in recent years.
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