Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
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Thousands of residents in the Northern Territory,
Australia
, still struggling with power outages and roads full of debris on Sunday (23/11), after
Typhoon
Tropical Fina hit the area with destructive winds the night before.
Cyclone Fina, which had been lurking off the coast of the Northern Territory for several days, suddenly strengthened to category 3 before sweeping across the area between Darwin City and the Tiwi Islands on Saturday evening.
Launch
Reuters
, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology recorded wind gusts reaching 110 km per hour when the core of the cyclone passed.
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Although Fina’s ‘highly destructive core’ has moved away, heavy rain and strong winds are still expected until Sunday.
“Conditions are still not completely safe,” said forecaster Angus Hines.
Power outages have become the biggest problem since the typhoon hit.Northern Territory Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said around 19,000 homes and businesses lost power in the last 24 hours.
He added that a number of trees had fallen, electricity poles were broken, and debris was scattered on various roads.
“In typical Territory spirit, neighbors helping each other with chainsaws, everyone pitched in,” Finocchiaro said on Sunday.
He said the relatively minimal impact and zero casualties were a result of residents’ preparedness.
Video footage shows heavy rainwater pouring down on the roofs of houses, as well as large trees falling onto yards and roads.At the Royal Darwin Hospital, part of the building’s roof collapsed, leaving piles of bricks and rubble in the corridor.
Darwin International Airport, which was closed on Saturday, has now reopened.Meanwhile, emergency authorities asked residents to stay away from fallen power lines and remain careful during the clean-up process.
Launch
AFP
, cyclone Fina is now moving off the coast of Western Australia and is expected to strengthen to category 4. However, the Bureau of Meteorology assesses that it is unlikely that this cyclone will return to land, they also predict that the storm system will slowly weaken in the next few days.
Researchers have repeatedly warned that climate change increases the risk of natural disasters such as forest fires, floods and tropical cyclones, including the intensity of storms like Fina.
For residents of Darwin, with a population of around 140,000, Fina’s attack brought back bad memories of Cyclone Tracy which devastated the city at Christmas 1974 and killed 66 people.But this time, despite damaging infrastructure and cutting electricity, no casualties were reported.
In Queensland, neighboring the Northern Territory, ex-Cyclone Alfred last March also caused extensive damage, closing schools and cutting off electricity to hundreds of thousands of homes.
(tis/tis)
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