Rabu, 30 Juli 2014

Woman killed by falling tree as wild weather wreaks havoc across Tasmania (ABC)

A tractor holds up the roof on Sean Dicker s East Ridgley home.ABC A tractor holds up the roof on Sean Dicker's East Ridgley home.

A woman has been killed by a falling tree in Tasmania's north as wild winds batter the state.

Police said the incident happened at 12:30pm (EST) in the Launceston suburb of Trevallyn but no other details are available.

Extreme weather is causing massive power disruptions and damage as trees fall onto houses and power lines.

At least 22,000 properties are now without electricity.

High winds and heavy rain are hindering repairs and the weather bureau has warned the conditions may worsen.

In Launceston, Kings Meadows High School was evacuated after winds dislodged roof tiles, leaving the school closed for the rest of the week.

State Emergency Service (SES) crews have attended about half of the 60 emergency calls they have received so far.

Northwest Regional Manager Wayne Richards said the incidents are being prioritised, headed by life-threatening scenarios.

"The majority that we're treating as our number-one priority are roof removals or extensive roof damage," he said.

Debris and flooding are also affecting train services in the north and north-west, with services suspended on the Melba Line and West of Western Junction.

In the south, the SES is warning of flooding in the Huon, Tyenna and Styx Rivers.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Abbott's plane had to be diverted to Hobart after being delayed by strong winds in the state's north.

Extra crews have been deployed in an attempt to reconnect the major power outage, with Burnie, Launceston, Palmerstone, Deloraine and Queenstown hit hard.

It is the fourth day the state has seen major electricity cuts and extensive damage to homes and property.

Heavy rain and strong winds persisted last night and the SES is bracing for flash flooding, with sandbagging in Launceston and minor flooding in Huonville, in the state's south.

A man escaped injury when a tree came down on a house at Blessington last night.

North-west farmer Sean Dicker had to use a tractor to hold up the roof of his East Ridgley house.

Mr Dicker was home alone with his dog at 6am when strong winds blew the roof off.

The lounge room windows were also blown in and the partially renovated cottage has been flooded.

"When that window blew in...everything just went everywhere and you can hear the actual roof grinding and starting to float, and the corner started even to go," he said.

"I ran outside and got the tractor and thought, that's the thing if I could hold it down."

In the south, weather conditions are expected to deteriorate this afternoon.

The weather bureau's Simon McCulloch said the rough weather would continue for another two days.

"The rainfall rates are going to be ticking over, which could cause some flooding issues," he said.

"The winds have been pretty strong consistently for two or three days now, certainly winds gusts in excess of 100 kilometres an hour look set to continue."

The damage bill is already in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Property owners were being urged to contact their insurers as soon as possible.

After three days of damaging weather across the state, the cost of the clean-up is already high.

RACT Insurance's chief executive Trent Sayers said more than 200 of its policy-holders have lodged claims so far.

"We're looking in the vicinity of around $300,000 is what it's looking as shaping up to be," he said.

The figure is expected to rise once the full extent of the damage is clear.


http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/24591815/woman-killed-by-falling-tree-as-wild-weather-wreaks-havoc-across-tasmania/

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar