Man killed by tree branch in Victoria
A man has died after a tree branch fell on him in Victoria this morning.
According to Victorian police, the tree branch fell at a private property in Caringal just after 9am today.
Emergency services provided medical assistance but the man died at the scene. He is yet to be formally identified. Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
This comes after a woman died in Helensvale on the Gold Coast last night after being hit by a falling tree.
Key events
Emergency management minister Murray Watt has sent his condolences to the family of a Gold Coast woman, killed in last night’s storm.
In a post to X/Twitter, he urged the community to keep informed ahead of further storms forecast today.
Many on the east coast recovering from severe storms today and more forecast for today. Our thoughts go out to the family of Gold Coast woman killed in last night’s storm. Pls keep an eye on your local [BoM] & SES sites for warnings – these storms can be very dangerous.
Many on the east coast recovering from severe storms today and more forecast for today. Our thoughts go out to the family of Gold Coast woman killed in last night’s storm. Pls keep an eye on your local @BOM_au & SES sites for warnings – these storms can be very dangerous.
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) December 26, 2023
A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for Melbourne, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning of damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall.
At 1.15pm severe thunderstorms that could lead to flash flooding were detected near Kinglake and Mt Macedon.
The thunderstorms are forecast to affect Gisborne, Lilydale and Yarra Glen by 1.45pm and Craigieburn, Greensborough, Ringwood and Sunbury by 2.15 pm.
Thousands of Australians are already braving Boxing Day sales to snap up a bargain after a year compounded by a cost-of-living crisis, AAP reports.
Retail experts say it’s not in spite of cost-of-living pressure that people are planning to spend big on Boxing Day, but because of it.
The Australian Retailers Association estimates Australians will splurge $1.25 billion on “unprecedented” deals with shoppers hoping to stretch their dollar further during discounts and sales.
“Boxing Day is the grand final of Australia’s favourite sport, shopping,” Association boss Paul Zahra said.
Australia’s biggest bank expects almost one in two people to participate in the sales, spending an estimated $4.6 billion in total.
While more people are planning to shop the Boxing Day sales than in previous years, people are planning to spend less, Commonwealth Bank personal finance expert Jess Irvine said.
The average planned spend this year is $475.70 compared to a planned average spend of $483.20 in 2022 and $557.05 in 2021.
The driving demographic involved in Boxing Day shopping are those aged 39 and under, reflecting data from a recent CommBank IQ cost of living report which found younger Australians are feeling the most pain from rising prices.
“Aussie household budgets are being squeezed on multiple fronts, so it is not surprising that individual shoppers are tightening their belts,” Irvine said.
More than 500 NSW volunteers helping with Christmas SES rescues
The NSW SES has provided an update to the rescue and repair efforts after last nights storm, with 25 flood rescues enacted, mostly in eastern Sydney, and on the south coast.
Sean Kearns, the NSW SES assistant commissioner, told reporters there were more than 500 volunteers helping with rescue efforts on Christmas.
On Christmas Eve we saw the worst of the flash flooding where we did over 25 flood rescues, the majority of those in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
Yesterday we saw some flash flooding around the South Coast and Illawarra areas where we attended the six flood rescues and in the early evening, SES volunteers attended a caravan park in Kiama to assist the family which whose our caravan had been impacted by flash flooding with water up to their knees.
We saw a severe thunderstorm with large hail hit the regional community of Greenfeld where we saw over 50 calls for assistance due to the damage that the hail cause it caused damage to roofs, skylights, windows and cars.
Storm expected to hit start of Sydney to Hobart
As we reported just earlier, a severe thunderstorm system detected near Gosford is moving towards Sydney, forecast to reach the city and the Sydney Harbour Bridge by 1pm this afternoon.
Competitors in this year’s Sydney to Hobart race are due to depart from the harbour at 1pm. You can read more on this below:
Concrete power poles damaged for first time in Queensland ‘mini cyclone’
Deputy premier Cameron Dick said that last night’s storm “can only be described as a mini cyclone”.
Dick, who is a Logan local, urged the community to stay safe, calm and patient as emergency crews work to repair damage to homes and energy infrastructure. More than 126,000 customers are without power, according to Energex.
Dick said:
Our crews are working overtime, as hard as they can, to get power connected. It is going to take some time, as you’ve heard from the premier.
This has been unprecedented in some ways, with power poles being torn out of the ground and a concrete power pole damaged for the first time ever by a storm. That just gives you an insight to this severity and the destructive nature of the storm.
Concrete power lines destroyed
Queensland premier Steven Miles is speaking to the media after last night’s disastrous storms affecting south-eastern parts of the state.
To give a sense of how unprecedented the storms were, Miles said this is the first time emergency services had seen concrete power poles taken down by a storm:
This is the first time we have seen a storm so intense in the south-east that it has taken down concrete power poles.
It will take days to get all of them repaired. I spoken to the mayors of Logan and Gold Coast, they have the situation in hand through their local disaster management groups.
He thanked emergency crews who responded to emergency callouts through the night. Miles said there had been 180 triple zero calls overnight and 450 requests for SES assistance.
Severe thunderstorms moving towards Sydney
Severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle and the Hunter.
The Bureau of Meteorology said at 12.30pm, severe thunderstorms likely to produce damaging winds and large hail were detected near the Dungog district, the Gresford district and Lakemba.
The thunderstorms were moving south, forecast to affect Sydney city and Wyong by 1pm and Gosford, Morpeth and Tocal by 1.30pm.
A low pressure system is situated in the state’s south-west. A humid and “very unstable” airmass along and to the east of the trough, supported by strong upper winds, will cause the development of severe thunderstorms this afternoon.
Q: A few months ago we were told that we’re now in an El Nino phase, characterised by drought conditions, so why are we seeing so much severe wet weather right now?
Angus Hines explained that we are still in an El Nino, and its impacts are seen when you look at weather patterns over the course of months and seasons as a whole.
When you look over the course of a six month span during El Nino you will see large parts of the country that get drier than average weather, but that doesn’t mean that every day, every week, or even every month is dry.
It is not uncommon in an El Nino year to still get a wet week or a wet month. We have certainly had frequent stormy outbreaks throughout the last month, since towards the end of November right through until Christmas. That has given some parts of the country above average rainfall over the last month…
When we look back over the past six months we will see many places drier than normal, including the driest three-month period ever across Australia through earlier months of the year. A little bit of rain over the course of a week or a month through El Nino [is] not uncommon, though we do expect to see overall drier conditions.
More storms possible
Angus Hines flagged that a number of severe thunderstorms, plus heavy rain, were lashing Gippsland and eastern Victoria:
Just in the last hour or two a band of severe thunderstorms [were] developing around the central parts of Victoria.
There’s a few isolated storms further north but in general it’s been a more settled morning.
The risk is certainly there for more storms, more severe storms, to develop across eastern and south-eastern Queensland, as well as eastern New South Wales – could see some more severe storms today.
