Floods in Australia

[Sundae]

Floods North of Sydney have already resulted in 9 deaths and 5,000 people are being evacuated after a weekend of storms. From The Independent

I know America is used to dramatic weather conditions, but this has been big news in Britain as many people have families there (and we're certainly not used to this kind of devastation).

Precis:

Nine killed and 5,000 evacuated as storms flood eastern Australia
Published: 11 June 2007

Officials urged thousands of Australians to flee their homes as rising floodwaters from three days of wild weather threatened to wash away their homes.

Nine people have been killed since the storms began Friday near the port city of Newcastle, around 140 kilometers (90 miles) north of Sydney. The unusually strong winds and sea swell were also blamed for pushing a massive coal freighter onto a nearby sand bank, prompting fears of a major oil and fuel spill.

At the peak of Friday's wild weather, five members of the same family were swept to their deaths when a section of highway collapsed under their car, plunging them into a swollen creek.

Around 5,000 people in the towns of Maitland and Singleton were ordered to leave their homes late Sunday, as the state's emergency coordinator warned the nearby Hunter River could rise more than 11 meters (36.09 feet) above its normal height, breaching levees and flooding neighborhoods.

The storms have also created havoc for utilities. More than 100,000 homes from northern Sydney to the Hunter Valley, near Newcastle, were without power Sunday.

Officials warned it could be days before the electricity is restored.

"Never before has our electricity network sustained such severe damage across such a widespread area," said Geoff Lilliss, an executive with power supplier, Energy Australia. "The extreme weather over the last few days has taken a heavy toll."

Aussie posters are in my thoughts, even if it's nowhere near you geographically.