Storms hit Western Australia - Too little too late? by John Hammond
Whilst drought conditions continue in eastern Australia, parts of the west are wondering what all the fuss is about. Heavy rain and thunderstorms battered the region this morning damaging buildings, infrastructure, trees, and leaving thousands without power.
Banbury, 180km south of Perth appeared to have been the worst affected by these storms. A 38m crane collapsed on the ABC radio station forcing staff to evacuate from the newsroom.
Many schools were forced to close along with some of the areas main roads. Perth’s main highway fell foul to the weather. Scattered debris and damaged traffic lights closed the highway causing a lot of traffic congestion on the surrounding roads.
Several tornadoes were also reported in the state’s capital Perth, where winds gusted to almost 90 mph and some parts recorded 80mm (3.2 inches) of rain in just 24 hours.
The severe weather is now moving inland and is expected to reach agricultural areas later today. But even if this rain does reach the drought affected areas, it will still take weeks of heavy rain to replenish the very dry soils.
Meanwhile thunderstorms continue to cause havoc across south-eastern parts of the United States. Flash flooding, hail and strong winds lashed New England and Texas overnight on Sunday, developing along a cold front which pushed from west to east. It will eventually dry up here though as the cold front continues to move east throughout the day, it will however bring heavy rain across parts of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina.
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