STORMS LASH MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

[tropicana]

THE DAY SUMMER WENT PYSCHO
Sat Feb 25 2006

SEVERE thunderstorms wreaked havoc across Melbourne Saturday afternoon, causing flash flooding and power blackouts.
The storms lashed the city about 2pm bringing heavy rain and hail, gale-force winds of up to 80 km/h and damaging lightning strikes that brought the city to a standstill.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Stuart Coombes said 34.8 millimetres of rain fell in the city while gauges at Merri Creek and Kew showed rainfalls of 75 millimetres and 66 millimetres respectively.
Despite the deluge dam levels remain at a low 52.2 per cent.

Melbourne's wettest day this year, which saw two-thirds of the month's average rain fall in just one day, kept emergency services busy.
The SES received more than 400 calls for help. Most were for flash flooding associated with the heavy rain. There were reports of fallen trees and roof damage.

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade attended 100 incidents as a result of the wild weather, including rescues from flooded homes and cars, car accidents and several grass and scrub fires in the city's outskirts.

Shortly before 3pm, three people trapped in their car under the railway overpass in Cheltenham Road, Dandenong, were forced to swim to safety when waters rose above window level.
"They called 000 but got a bit desperate when the water rapidly rose. They swam out of the windows to a nearby embankment," Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman Travis Hearn said.

The storms caused chaos for commuters with major arterial roads in Preston, Reservoir, Northcote, Coburg and Brunswick under water and dozens of train services cancelled.
A fallen tree across the railway track at Sandringham caused major delays and cancellations on the line for up to two hours.

A minor landslide blocked the track at Pascoe Vale and power problems caused havoc to boom gates on the Epping line.

Blackouts were reported across the city with some homes without power for several hours. Electricity company Alinta said 2000 homes were without power in the south-eastern suburbs.

The weather also caused delays at Melbourne Airport and minor flooding in the Qantas terminal.
Several outdoor swimming pools were forced to evacuate patrons due to severe lightning strikes and a number of races at the AAMI Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield were delayed.

Mr Coombes said the thunderstorms were caused by cold air moving above the surface after a couple of days of hot and humid weather.

-justin-

[JonathanBelles]

75 mm= about 4.5 in of rain right?

[JonathanBelles]

hello 75 mm is 4.5 inches right??????????

[wxmann_91]

hello 75 mm is 4.5 inches right??????????

1) PM or
2) Just calculate it yourself, you don't need to ask so many times.

[Aslkahuna]

25.4mm=1 inch.

Steve