Desert
floods cause evacuations in remotest WA as rain continues
Temperature
extremes in WABushfire
and heat in SE SA, W VicRain
and wind in NE NSW, SE QldThe town has been receiving food airdrops as tracks in the area have turned to quagmires and flooding has forced the community to take shelter in the settlement's school, described as the most remote school in Australia. Limited fresh water and failure of the septic system resulted in an emergency evacuation decision yesterday, and half of the settlement's population of 160 were evacuated by 4 helicopters to Kintore in NT today en route to Alice Springs tomorrow.
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| Maximum temperature variation from normal today BoM |
The ex-cyclone's central pressure continued below 995hPa today, and up to yesterday morning spiral cloud patterns continued to circulate around the system. Continuing heavy cloud cover kept maximum temperatures 10 to 12° below normal near the NT/SA/WA border junction today, but drying northeasterly winds moving out of the system into a trough down the WA coast gave Perth its fifth day of over 37° heat. Top temperatures in southwest WA were up to 14 above average.
Maximum temperatures 10 to 14 above normal also afflicted SA and western Vic coastal areas today. A bushfire near Colac, west of Melbourne, burnt through at least 2 hectares.
Another slow-moving low has been bringing rain and strong winds to the SE Qld and NE NSW coasts. A low, which developed early Sunday morning halfway between Brisbane and Auckland, has been moving slowly WNW towards SE Qld. Coffs Harbour Airport recorded 77mm to 9 this morning, and a further 91mm to 9pm as heavy showers and storms blew in on strengthening southeasterlies. Nabiac, between Port Macquarie and Newcastle, recorded 73.5mm in 3 hours to 4.15pm, a once in six years intensity. A rogue shower crossing the Sydney metropolitan area in the early hours brought 31mm in 1 hour to Homebush.