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TORRENTIAL RAIN IS hampering relief efforts after a powerful cyclone wreaked havoc in northeast Australia, with floods sparking emergency rescues as fed-up tourists began evacuating from resort islands.
Cyclone Debbie has pummelled Queensland state since crashing ashore as a category four storm on Tuesday between Bowen and Airlie Beach, ripping up trees, washing boats onto land and causing widespread damage.
It has been downgraded to a tropical low as it tracks southeast, but continues to pack damaging wind gusts and dump huge amounts of rain, with Brisbane now in the firing line.
Meteorologists forecast the city would be soaked by a month’s worth of rain in a single day, with the popular Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast areas also set to be drenched before the system moves offshore tomorrow.
Theme parks and beaches in the area were closed for the day.
“We have a very, very large state here and this is a very, very big weather system that’s going to wreak havoc all the way down the coast,” Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
Emergency service crews, who have received more than 3,000 calls for help, rescued dozens of people overnight and early today from floodwaters, with some plucked from roofs and tops of cars.
“Significant rainfall in Mackay — sudden increase in calls for service. A number of rescues undertaken & still being undertaken,” Queensland police tweeted.
Despite this, no deaths have been reported with only one significant injury — a man crushed by a collapsing wall. Before the cyclone hit, thousands of people moved to higher ground, out of the area or to safe refuges.
The wild weather has made the clean-up difficult as crews battle horrendous conditions to reach isolated communities and restore power.
Many roads remain flooded and towns cut off with hundreds of schools closed and authorities keeping a close eye on dams as water levels rise.
A significant experience
Great Barrier Reef islands were among the worst hit.
Tourists and residents have been stranded for days on devastated Hamilton and Daydream islands, battered by terrifying winds of more than 260 kph at the height of the tempest.
Hundreds were evacuated from their accommodation today after struggling with no power and toilets not flushing as water ran low.
“They’ve been through a significant experience, but they are safe. That’s the main thing,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services Deputy Commissioner Mark Roche told reporters.
Jacqui McCullagh, who was staying on Hamilton Island, said the once-lush area was in a bad way.
“Boats washed ashore, houses without roofs, windows smashed in, trees snapped in half, gum trees torn out of the ground and those that do remain standing, are bare and lifeless,” she told the local Whitsunday Times.
The military has mobilised 1,300 soldiers to help assess the full extent of damage and help the clean-up, with helicopters and planes deploying to restore infrastructure and supply emergency food, water and fuel.
Debbie has officially been declared a catastrophe by the Insurance Council of Australia, allowing claims from the disaster to be prioritised.
The economic cost to a region that relies heavily on farming is expected to be huge, with sugarcane crops hit hard and the cattle industry also impacted, officials said.
“Producers in the Whitsunday area were planting winter vegetables and they’re expected to suffer heavy crop losses as well as infrastructure, crop and irrigation equipment damage,” said Queensland’s Rural Economic Development Minister Bill Byrne.
In the Mackay district, it’s understood that the cane fields at Proserpine, Mackay and Sarina have been flattened.
Irish travellers in the affected areas are being advised to monitor local and international weather updates from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology websites.
- © AFP 2017 with reporting from Daragh Brophy
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Anyone who is available in Drogheda today, please go out and meet our Taoiseach in your town. Be vocal,, let the six one news headline tonight be Leo scrambling into his car as the people of his country shout their disapproval at him and his inept performance since he has got his job, crime rampant, hospital crisis, housing nightmare,, a nice little run up to his election……
@devils avacado: sorry, but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do during this tragedy!!
@Denise McGowan: while I understand your point, these gangs seem to operate with impunity, shooting each other in hotels in broad daylight comes to mind.
Time the Garda got tough or more tragedies like this will happen. Needs to be addressed at government level.
@Denise McGowan: you might be right,, they should probably leave it till the next time he plans to go to crime ridden town that Drogheda seems to have become…..
@Denise McGowan: why?
@Denise McGowan: it’s the perfect time to do it
@Euro McPúnty: since it appears that those involved are well known in the area, the better course of action is for those with information to give it to the Gardai. Stunts like this suggestion won’t bring anyone to justice.
@milton friedman: what do you mean by ‘time the Gardai got tough’? I’ve heard this phrase used plenty of times but nobody seems to elaborate.
@devils avacado: If convicted criminals with 50 to 100 convictions were kept behind bars for longer periods of time instead of being given suspended or a gentle slap on the wrist sentences, they would not be out on the streets as much in order to commit more murders and to terrorise the citizens of this country.
@devils avacado: Drogheda is battling with a reputation at the moment and the last thing they need is to show a hostile reaction to an invited guest.
@Pat O Brien: Would probably mean a heavy handed approach to dealing with this s(um. Fight fire with fire and squeeze the life from them. Confiscate everything they have, even the clothes off their backs. And when I say ‘they’, gards know every last one of them.
@Daniel Kevin Sullivan: “ stunts like this suggestion”?? For years the people and Garda of Drogheda have been saying that the town is rampant with crime and it is a boiling pot that is going to spill over,, the barbaric murder of a child this week has highlighted what many people have known for years, the people of Drogheda need help, the town they have grown up in/moved into is in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, thugs are running the show with zero fear of the law. The people should take to the streets today if Leo is in town, and show their support for that boys loved ones by letting the Taoiseach know what is happening is unacceptable, enough is enough, the people need to get out and use the media presence today to tell our leaders that they want their town back….
@Rochelle: nonsense.
@Michael Lynch: I’m sure the gardai do know who’s who. But I still don’t know what ‘getting tough’ and ‘heavy handed’ mean. I’m asking a genuine question. Where I’m coming from is I take it nobody wants the Gardai to go outside the law, which I don’t want them to, but in that context, what do people mean by the above two phrases?
@George Vladisavljevic: how about ‘more than one’ conviction…?
@Pat O Brien: while I know it is a platitude but in its simplest form, you assess what resources and intelligence the Garda have, and then you strategize how to improve results i.e. convictions, confiscation of fire arms and drugs.
Basically make it so these gangs can’t operate.
@Shane McGrath:
The law profession wouldn’t allow it. The revolving door system keeps up employment and assures wages for the sector.
@Pat O Brien: i think many people vent their frustration with out outdated criminal justice system with the sentiment ‘time for garda to get tough’ – -its just people sick of the soft touch , suspended sentences , lack of new prisons , oitdated garda tech ( pulse is not fit for purpose ) – not enough visible garda etc etc – its just a way people vent a complex area – whatever party gets SERIOUS about building more prisons and making a tougher concerted overhaul in criminal justice – not just false promises – the people would welcome that.
@devils avacado: It sounds like you don’t give a damn about Drogheda and you’re just another Dub wanting to use a crisis away from your own doorstep as a political opportunity.
@Dave Hammond: I agree with you on both your points.
@milton friedman: but it is my understanding that all of this is being done. Hence my question.
@Rochelle: yes, ok, that’s fine Rochelle,, whatever you say, spout as much nonsense as you like. It doesn’t make it true thou….
@Denise McGowan: sorry but what happened is not a tragedy. The boy was involved in gangs and has probably done awful things to innocent people. It’s sad that he got involved with the wrong people but he would have grown up to be a very dangerous man I’m having trouble having any sympathy for him
@jason traynor: protesting at Leinster house might be more appropriate. Not where a young guy has been murdered.
@D: it’s a tragedy that his family are grieving through. He we only 17
@Pat O Brien: I imagine Gardai will say the resources are not there to do it sufficiently, so there is one way to address the issue.
I’m calling for action from those in charge, who are paid to make these decisions, I do not have all the answers.
Where was he for all the other murdered? Easily know election season is in full swing.
@Craig Clancy: All those other 17yr olds chopped up? This is one of the most vicious and disgusting murders this country has seen so it is right imo that he is showing his face there.
@Sal Paradise: another leo supporter.
Taoiseach shocked by drug dealers death…..wow
Suit him far better to visit the local hospital and see first hand how under staffed the hospital is
@John Joe Bridie: he knows. He is an MD and his partner practices.
I wonder will he say.. “but he was known to Gardai” and shrug his shoulders in the same way he said about the homeless guy injured in the tent being known to authorities
@Hughie Lynch: he will also bring up fg’s brilliant success on tackling crime and how fg are working on new measures to tackle crime then he will try and slate ff and sf while thinking quietly to himself “these fools will believe anything i say, i hope my socks look good in this”
@Hughie Lynch: are we supposed to feel sympathy for a lad that firebombed people’s homes and attacked known murderers on the streets and got his comeuppance?
“will consider” chances are probable that he won’t. Leo is not one to mingle with us common people.
Taoiseach travels to Drogheda as DNA results due on remains. Is Leo a suspect?
Leo standing hopelessly by a stable door as a horse gallops past him again.
This is truly tragic but it’s interesting how criminals always seem to get the most attention from politicians. Why is that?
@Morning Gus: because unlike for example the homeless guy where they can deflect blame to another party or person and quickly move on, they can talk about criminals all they want, because he doesn’t think he is to blame and plays on the notion that we as a society don’t care what criminals do to each other, which is I suppose is largely true.
I’m still Taoiseach, so I do still have my responsibilities and obligations as Taoiseach. So I’m obviously trying to campaign around them but, you know, I certainly give it consideration.
Leo’s biggest responsibility and obligation is to protect the citizens of this country,all other issues pale after that.
@Fabio Dillon: I think you’re doing a disservice to the people of Drogheda, the majority of whom want nothing to do with this feud. Far more people are killed in other parts of the country, yet you’re happy to jump upon a media fueled bandwagon. This is the biggest town in the country, maybe if it hadn’t been so neglected by successive governments and had some investment they wouldn’t have such problems. They have a sitting FG TD for many years, with little to show for it.
These people couldn’t give a f___ if every town in Ireland held a rally , action is what’s needed by the government , guards and especially the judicial system .
This country is decending fast into complete lawlessness every day now we have a murder or a serious assault it’s that common now it doesn’t even make the news .
The next government should stop bowing to this racist card and call it as it is , it’s about time we starting deporting people who commit crimes in this country and give proper sentences to our own all ot our own .
Leo’s pledge to put killers behind bars …… forgive me for being cynical , but put that in the intray leo with your USC, Hopistal crisis and homeless crisis pledges!!
Just another soundbite from you, in the Tragedy thats going on .
He’s only making use of the event for his own gain. A PR stunt to win the hearts of the people or so he hope. He has never and will never give a $hite about common people.
Leo’s pledge to put killers behind bars …… forgive me for being cynical , but put that in the intray leo with your USC, Hopistal crisis and homeless crisis pledges!!
Just another soundbite from you, in the Tragedy thats going on .
Good God, does this man’s arrogance have no bounds? Much better for the Drogheda march if he doesn’t attend-his clear lack of understanding would mean he’d have the gall to use it for canvassing.
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