In Australia, several cities were left without electricity due to snow atypical for the region
Kyiv • UNN
In eastern Australia, cities found themselves under the thickest layer of snow in decades, leading to floods, stranded vehicles, and power outages for thousands of homes. The cold front brought up to 40 cm of snow, causing over 1455 incidents.
In eastern Australia, several cities were covered by the thickest layer of snow in decades, as severe bad weather swept through the territory this weekend, causing floods, stranding vehicles, and cutting off power to thousands of homes, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Details
A cold air front triggered up to 40 cm of snow in parts of northern New South Wales on Saturday. This is the highest figure since the mid-1980s, said Miriam Bradbury, a meteorologist at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
According to her, snow also fell in areas of the neighboring state of Queensland for the first time in 10 years. Bradbury said that climate change has made Australia's weather more unstable in recent years, but similar events have occurred several times in history.
What makes this event unusual is how much snow we had, but also how widely it covered a fairly large part of the northern highlands
Due to heavy rains that fell in other areas, the New South Wales State Emergency Service said it had responded to over 1,455 incidents. More than 100 vehicles were reportedly stranded due to snow, storms damaged buildings, and a number of serious flood warnings were issued.
Tens of thousands of homes spent the night without power, according to the state broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp.
New South Wales Police, in Australia's most populous state, reported that a car became stuck in floodwaters on Saturday night, and a 20-year-old female passenger was swept away by the water. They said the search was ongoing on Sunday.
Addition
Tropical Storm "Wipha" caused widespread floods and landslides in Thailand, killing at least six people and affecting over 230,000. Since July 21, heavy rains have flooded 12 provinces, mainly in the north and center of the country.
In northern China, including Beijing, 543.4 mm of precipitation fell from July 23 to 28, almost equal to the annual norm, causing floods and landslides. As a result of the bad weather, at least 38 people died, over 80,000 were evacuated, and infrastructure suffered significant damage.