Intense winds battering southeastern Australia are set to continue through the weekend, prompting pleas to stay alert to falling trees, power lines and avoid flood waters.
Severe weather warnings for damaging winds have been issued for southeastern New South Wales (NSW), parts of the ACT, across Victoria, the southern coast of South Australia and most of Tasmania.
Moderate flood alerts are current for much of the island state, including for the Derwent, Isis, Meander, and Mersey rivers.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Luke Johnston said the situation was evolving rapidly, with wild weather likely to peak on Aug. 31 night before easing from Sep. 3.
Tasmania Police Southern Commander Jason Elmer said there had been 20 collisions in the 24 hours to 3pm on Aug. 30, which he said was excessive.
He urged people in flood-affected regions to stay home if there was no need to be in the area.
“We just really urge drivers to slow down, to drive with caution, put their headlights on in these conditions, ensure there’s further distance between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you, obey all road signs,” he said.
Authorities in all affected states have warned people to particularly watch for falling trees, following the death of a 77-year-old motorist in Victoria’s southwest on Aug. 28.
He and his partner became trapped in their car in Gellibrand, with the 73-year-old woman in a serious but stable condition in hospital.
“Motorists should drive to the conditions, avoid driving through heavily treed areas during periods of high winds and remain vigilant to the risk of fallen trees and debris,” Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) State Agency Commander Mark Cattell said.
He warned localised power outages could occur at any time and anyone who came across fallen powerlines to steer clear, assume they are live and alert authorities.
Electricity distributer AusNet said the week had been the longest sustained weather event its network had faced in over a decade, with at least 3000 Victorians still without power as of Aug. 30.
There’s been more than 4200 calls for assistance to the State Emergency Service in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania since wild winds picked up earlier this week.
Almost 50 flights were cancelled at Sydney airport due to high winds on Aug. 30, mostly impacting domestic routes.
