SYDNEY (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of people in Australia’s Tasmania state were without power on Sunday after a cold front brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.
“Around 30,000 customers are without power across the state this morning,” Tasnetworks, a state-owned power company, said on Facebook on Sunday morning.
The nation’s weather forecaster said a cold front over Tasmania, an island state of around 570,000 people, was moving away “although bands of showers and thunderstorms continue to pose a risk of damaging wind gusts.”
“Yet another strong cold front will cross the state on Sunday night into early Monday morning, likely impacting the western and northern coasts,” the forecaster said on its website.
Emergency authorities issued warnings for flooding, which they said could leave Tasmanians isolated for several days.
“There is potential for properties to be inundated, and roads may not be accessible,” executive director of Tasmania State Emergency Service, Mick Lowe, said in a statement.
Authorities had received 330 requests for assistance in the last 24 hours, according to the agency.
Tasmania is a one-hour flight or 10-hour ferry crossing from the mainland city of Melbourne, 445 km (275 miles) away. About 40% of the island is wilderness or protected areas.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney, editing by Deepa Babington)
