Once-in-a-century floods have turned streets into rivers and forced thousands to abandon their homes in northeast Australia, with authorities warning of tornadoes and more rain over the next few days. Thousands of residents in the city of Townsville in Queensland were without power and cut off by flooded roads. There has been a silver lining to the deluge, with drought-stricken farmers in western Queensland welcoming the soaking. But climate change has pushed up land and sea temperatures and led to more extremely hot days and severe fire seasons. In the southern states of Victoria and Tasmania, firefighters in recent days have been battling numerous bushfires threatening homes and communities.

Source: The Guardian February 03, 2019 09:33 UTC