Record rain lashes south Australia
By Rachel Brown
September 5, 2010 Wild weather will again lash the southern states today after 24 hours of torrential rain and gales tore through Victoria and South Australia. Large areas of Victoria are under water after the state’s heaviest single day of rainfall in 15 years. Thousands of South Australians have been left without power after the state was battered by lightning strikes and winds of up to 120km/h. The army was called in to evacuate homes in central Victoria yesterday as floodwaters continued to rise. The worst-hit areas are Ballarat, Creswick and Maryborough, which was devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires. North-eastern towns, including Benalla, Euroa and Violet Town, activated evacuation plans. South Australia was battered by 70,000 lightning strikes in 24 hours, knocking out power to 3000 homes. In south-eastern Queensland the Birdsville races were put on hold for the first time in their 128-year history.
