Warnings as wild weather set to continue along Australia’s East Coast

The heat may have eased but the weather around Australia isn’t being any kinder.

New South Wales has been battered by storms over the weekend with massive hailstones causing damage in areas of Sydney and surrounds.
ABC News has reported three women, all in their 60’s, who were sitting on a park bench at Corbett Gardens in Bowral, were struck by a bolt of lightning.

They have been taken to hospital, with one woman suffering serious burns to her body and the other two treated for shock, ABC reports.

Storms are still expected to continue in NSW for at least one more day, while residents are trying to their best to clean up after the hail damage.

 

And this is what we were dealt yesterday… the biggest hailstones I’ve ever seen and lots of damage to our property.. looks like renovations are back on ??#sydneystorms #hailstorm #sydneyhailstorm #stormdamage #stormdamaged #rooftiles #hail #hailstones #insurance #homerenovation #homeimprovement #homereno #renovation #renovations #renosmumma

A post shared by Renosmumma_aus (@renosmumma_aus) on Feb 18, 2017 at 5:53pm PST

The storms are expected to spread to southern Queensland later today.

Northern Queensland is not missing their share of weather drama either with the Bureau of Meteorology expecting a tropical low in the Gulf of Carpentaria to move northwards and intensity to Tropical Cyclone strength overnight.

If a tropical cyclone forms it will be named #CycloneAlfred.

Rainfall totals of 100 to 150mm expected, possibly in excess of 200mm closer to the Gulf of Carpentaria coast.

This rainfall could be intense at times, particularly with thunderstorms, leading to localised flash flooding. 

The Queensland Government has already held a meetings of the Queensland Disaster Management Committee with senior Ministers and representatives from the Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Police Service and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said at the meeting on Friday the state was bracing for severe weather this weekend with the prospect of the State’s first cyclone of the year developing and storms in other parts of the state

 “Residents in Gulf communities should brace for strong wind and rain with cyclone-like conditions possible in southern areas of the Gulf early next week,” Premier Palaszczuk said.

“The Government is focused on ensuring all Queenslanders are kept safe during cyclone season and we are urging people to not only ensure they stay safe but to also check on their neighbours and offer to help them with cyclone preparations.

State Emergency Service personnel and a swiftwater rescue team has been deployed to the region.

Safety tips:

• If it is flooded, forget it.
• For storm and flood assistance contact the State Emergency Service on 132 500.
• In a life threatening emergency call Triple Zero (000).
• For further information on how to prepare your home for storms and cyclones visit www.getready.qld.gov.au
• To keep updated on warnings monitor the BoM website at www.bom.gov.au.