Australia storm ‘catastrophe’ to cost hundreds of millions of dollars — weekend deluge will bring weeks of flooding
By NICKY PHILLIPS
March 9, 2010 A HUGE body of water that has caused widespread flooding in south-western Queensland is on its way south and is expected to cause extensive flooding in NSW over the next two months. Meanwhile, the damage bill from wild weather in Melbourne at the weekend is expected to come to hundreds of millions of dollars. The Insurance Council of Australia was preparing for more than 40,000 claims as a result of thunderstorms in Victoria that caused significant hail damage. The council has declared the event a catastrophe, and the damage bill is expected to exceed $200 million. Emergency services received more than 5500 calls for assistance in Melbourne alone. Wagga Wagga was also recovering from a deluge of more than 110 millimetres, which broke the town’s record for the most rainfall in 24 hours. The NSW government has declared the town and the Central Darling Shire a disaster area following flash flooding. … A spokesman for the Queensland Bureau of Meteorology said the flooding in Roma and Charleville had produced a large body of water that was now moving towards the NSW border. ”This water will create peaks and flooding in rivers along the way,” he said. …
