1.2 lakh people suffer power outage in Australia

Wild storms ravaged Australia’s southeast on Monday, leaving around 1.2 lakh without power.

The storms also caused the death of a 63-year-old woman. Destructive winds exceeding 110 kilometers per hour led to widespread chaos and outages, with about 150,000 people affected.

Police reported that the woman died when a tree fell on a cabin in the region. Victorian state premier Jacinta Allan indicated power outages could take up to three days to resolve due to hazardous conditions. “There are some areas where the conditions remain too dangerous to make repairs,” she said.

She further addressed the power outage issue and said Allan reported that at least 121,000 people were still without power on Monday, a decrease from the peak of 180,000 earlier that morning.

Coastal areas have experienced high tides, with sand dunes being washed away in some locations. People were advised to avoid unnecessary travel, prompting the closure of some schools.

In New South Wales, authorities expressed concerns about an increased fire danger on Monday, with several regions on high alert. Ben Shepherd, an inspector with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, warned that Sydney and its surrounding areas would face the highest fire danger on Monday, though conditions were expected to improve by the afternoon.

Tasmania faced significant flooding and destructive winds over the weekend, with wind speeds reaching up to 150 kilometers per hour. Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Christie Johnson attributed the severe weather to multiple cold fronts moving through Australia’s southeast.

(With inputs from agencies)