A storm on the evening of Monday, December 25, killed a woman in eastern Australia, where around 120,000 homes are without power, authorities said Tuesday.
A 59-year-old woman died following a falling tree caused by gusts of wind in the Gold Coast urban region (east), said Jaye Newton of the emergency ambulance service. “It was like a disaster area, there were trees all over the road,” he told reporters.
The storm knocked out power lines around Brisbane, the regional capital of Queensland, said local electricity supplier Energex, which noted “catastrophic and widespread damage, on the scale of a cyclone”. . “More than 800 power lines knocked out, 120,000 customers without power, it will take days to restore service,” the company wrote on X.
The Australian Weather Service is forecasting another severe episode of thunderstorms for Tuesday, with gusty winds, hailstones and heavy rainfall. They have issued a flood alert for a river approximately 40 kilometers from the Gold Coast.