Once in 50-year weather event forces one of Australia’s most iconic tourist attractions to close

If you had plans to visit Uluru or Kata Tjuta in the Northern Territory over the festive season, you might want to reschedule.

According to the experts it is an event that occurs only once in 50 years, but the massive Christmas night storm throughout central Australia has caused damaging flash flooding and has seen one of Australia’s most iconic tourist attractions to close.

Uluru National Park, home of the giant red rock, has been closed until further notice.

In a statement issued by Parks Australia it said the slow-moving low pressure system moving across the south-east has caused heavy rain and flash flooding.

“Due to an extreme weather event, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has been closed until further notice,” the statement says.

“Our rangers are checking the condition of the roads every hour in a bid to reopen as soon as it is safe to do so.”

There were wind gusts of up to 125km/h in the area and more than 230mm of rain had been recorded in a 24-hour period.

The Bureau of Meteorology says almost 62mm of rain fell in an hour between 8pm and 9pm on Christmas night making it a once in a half century rain event.

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