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Wild winds whip southern Australia leaving one dead: officials
Sydney (AFP) April 2, 2008 Powerful winds lashed southern Australia Wednesday, causing air and traffic delays, cutting power to thousands of homes and killing at least one person, weather officials said. In Victoria, weather forecasters took the unusual step of asking people to remain indoors as strong winds battered the state, reaching more than 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour in one region. "People on the roads should watch out for trees, as in branches blowing off, let alone trees falling," Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Peter Blake said. "Indoors is the place to be, people should stick to indoor activities today." The winds killed at least one person when a wall fell on top of a woman walking in a laneway beside shops in Melbourne. Officials were also investigating whether the winds contributed to the death of a rigger who died when girders and scaffolding collapsed on a building site early Wednesday. More than 1,200 calls poured into the State Emergency Service (SES) to report trees fallen on roads, homes, cars and powerlines, and roofs blown off houses. Flights faced 30-minute delays and rail commuters were hit by widespread damage on lines, while power was cut to more than 200,000 homes and businesses. A horse racing meeting at Melbourne's Sandown course was cancelled after two races due to the wild weather and the Melbourne International Flower Show was also closed. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Weather News at TerraDaily.com
Uncovering The Mechanisms Of Lightning Varieties
University Park PA (SPX) Mar 31, 2008The mechanism behind different types of lightning may now be understood, thanks to a combination of direct observation and computer modeling reported by a team of researchers from New Mexico Tech and Penn State. "Our explanation provides a unifying view of how lightning escapes from a thundercloud," the researchers report in the April edition of Nature Geoscience. |
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