Category Archives: Queensland

‘Amazing’: Queensland mum uses electric car to ‘save’ son’s life with dialysis during power outage

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Kristy Holmes always knew she could use her electric car for ‘good things’, but when storms caused a blackout, it proved life-saving

An electric vehicle owner has used her car’s emergency power system to run her 11-year-old son’s lifesaving dialysis machine and another has ridden to the rescue of his neighbours after devastating storms cut power in south-east Queensland.

When the power went down following storms and flash flooding on Christmas Day, many residents immediately felt the consequences: electric gates did not work, septic tanks began to fill, air conditioners could not run and fridges began to warm as a heatwave followed.

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Scientists decry wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs languish in IVF storage across Australia

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Despite a surplus of eggs at fertility clinics around the country, very few end up being donated to research or other prospective parents

The vast majority of eggs frozen by prospective mothers go unused, causing headaches for IVF clinics and preventing potentially groundbreaking research.

Scientists are decrying a wasted opportunity as thousands of frozen eggs sit unused in storage instead of being used in potentially valuable medical research.

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New Year’s Eve fireworks in Australia: ‘your cracker night could end in hospital’, authorities warn

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Illegal use of fireworks can lead to thousands of dollars in fines and even jail. Here are the rules around the country

Hefty fines and even jail time are on the cards for those who set off illegal fireworks this New Year’s Eve.

People right across the country used to partake in the annual “cracker night” festival, setting off fireworks in their backyards, but most states and territories began banning this practice in the 1980s.

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Queensland storms: two men in hospital after lightning strikes as hail and heavy rain hit south-east

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Several waves of thunderstorms batter state as thousands in region remain without power

Two people have been hospitalised after their vehicles were struck by lightning in two separate incidents in Queensland on Saturday, as severe thunderstorms return to the south-east of the state.

Queensland Ambulance said one man was transported to Caboolture hospital – between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast – in a stable condition after the vehicle he was travelling in was reportedly struck by lightening while on the Bruce highway at about 9.20am.

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Marble Bar to reach 49C as severe heatwave grips parts of Queensland, NT and WA

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Conditions 8C to 12C above average across large parts of Australia’s north, with little reprieve for storm-ravaged areas

A severe heatwave is expected to affect parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia heading into the new year.

Large swathes have been put on alert, with conditions 8C to 12C above average.

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‘There’s been some tears’: storm and flood-hit Queensland town battles heatwave as more wild weather forecast

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Many homes in Jimboomba are still without power. Now temperatures are nearing 40C, and more storms are forecast

Inside an unassuming hall in Jimboomba, north-west of Queensland’s Gold Coast, Sarah Weir is offering a reprieve from the heat, cool drinks and food, wifi, and even her shoulder to cry on.

“There’s been some tears,” she says.

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Queensland power supply to face strain as heatwave sends demand to near-record levels

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Surging consumption comes despite ‘very sleepy period’ for electricity use, energy expert says

Queensland’s electricity supplies are expected to be strained for a second day in a row as the heatwave roasting much of northern Australia lifts power demand to near-record levels.

The mercury exceeded its forecast maximum for Brisbane of 37C by early afternoon and was recently at 38.3.5C, or eight degrees above the December average, Bureau of Meteorology data showed.

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Two people dead and a dozen injured after multi-car crash in NSW – as it happened

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Tasmanian yacht Alive is in the box seat to take out Sydney to Hobart yacht race’s overall honours, with skipper Duncan Hine confident the 66-footer has a winning time on the board.

Hine and his crew finished the 628-nautical-mile blue water classic yesterday afternoon as clubhouse leaders on handicap time.

It’s a waiting game. We’re looking good, though. I believe we could do it again, but the reality may be different. Now we wait with bated breath to see if anyone can beat our time.

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Queensland weather: state braces for heatwave as thousands face prospect of days without power

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Some households could go without electricity into the new year as state endures high temperatures following extreme weather

Areas of Queensland affected by “unprecedented” storms now face the prospect of days without electricity amid extreme heat.

Storms and flash flooding across south-east Queensland have claimed the lives of seven people since Christmas but households have now been warned to prepare for a heatwave.

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Wieambilla shooting: lawyers for Donald Day mount freedom-of-speech defence over alleged threats to police

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Arizona conspiracy theorist who was arrested in connection to Queensland terrorist attack seeking to have charges dismissed

A US conspiracy theorist linked to the Wieambilla shooters has argued he was not seriously expressing an intent for violence when he said “the devils come for us, they fucking die”, and as such should be protected by the US constitution’s first amendment.

Donald Day Jr, a conspiracy theorist in Arizona, was recently arrested by FBI agents in connection with last year’s religiously motivated terrorist attack on a remote Queensland property in Wieambilla.

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NSW drowning deaths climb to four since Christmas as lifesavers send holiday warning

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Royal Life Saving Society chief says Australians may not be ‘as strong swimmers as we believe’ as December toll hits 22

Another person has drowned in New South Wales, adding to the rising drowning death toll that has prompted a warning from lifesavers at what is considered the deadliest time of year.

Four people were pulled from the water at Port Stephens on Wednesday afternoon, including a 33-year-old man who could not be revived and died at the scene.

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Storms death toll rises as wild weather continues – as it happened

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Cricket begins

Day two of the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Pakistan has just started in Melbourne. You can follow the latest on our separate live blog here:

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‘A very tragic Christmas’: 10 people dead after spate of severe storms across eastern Australia

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Two campers in Victoria and three friends on a fishing trip in Queensland among 10 lives lost as storms ravaged eastern Australia

The body of a man has been discovered in flood-affected regional Victoria, taking the death toll from storms that wreaked havoc on eastern Australia over the Christmas period to 10.

Victoria police received information on Wednesday that it was believed a man was camping with a woman who was located deceased following flash flooding in Buchan in East Gippsland on 26 December.

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Nine dead in Australia’s Christmas storms, as Gold Coast mayor warns city ‘not out of the woods’

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Nine-year-old girl and three men confirmed dead after boat capsized in south-east Queensland among death toll

The death toll from Australia’s Christmas storms has risen to nine, as the Gold Coast mayor warns his city is “not out of the woods”.

The people confirmed dead include a nine-year-old girl whose body was found after she was feared lost in stormwater drains in Brisbane.

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Severe weather warnings for parts of NSW, Queensland and Victoria as thunderstorms and heavy rain continue

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Two women reported missing in flood waters in Gympie as Bureau of Meteorology warns of further thunderstorms on Boxing Day night

Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected to continue to batter the east coast until at least Wednesday evening, as thousands of households remained without power on Boxing Day.

Severe weather warnings have been issued for large parts of the New South Wales, Victorian and Queensland coasts, covering metropolitan areas as well as some regional areas.

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Wild weather continues after stormy night – as it happened

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What’s causing the storms?

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology just spoke to ABC News about the severe thunderstorms hitting the east coast.

[It is] primarily driven by some warm humid air in the low levels of the atmosphere, which is partly contributed to by a ton of warm ocean temperatures off the east coast of Australia providing a lot of that warmth and humidity into the atmosphere.

We also have a big low pressure system higher up which just provides that extra energy and support which allows these thunderstorms do develop and grow, and as you say, they have been causing extensive disruptive weather over the last few days.

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Wild Christmas weather: woman killed, more than 100,000 homes without power after Queensland storms

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Boxing Day weather also predicted to be volatile across NSW, Victoria and Queensland, with more thunderstorms and rain forecast

A woman has died and more than 100,000 homes been left without power as a result of severe thunderstorms in south-east Queensland on Christmas night, with warnings of more bad weather to come on Boxing Day across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.

Intense storms affected all three eastern states on Monday, with more than 1,200 calls for help to state emergency services and Sydney airport recording its wettest Christmas Day on record.

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Christmas Day weather: Queenslanders brace for more storms as flood risk remains in NSW

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The Bureau of Meteorology warns of more thunderstorms and heavy rain for large parts of Australia’s east coast

Queenslanders and parts of New South Wales have been told to hunker down amid Christmas Day warnings for large hailstones, heavy rain and possible flash flooding.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued thunderstorm warnings on Monday afternoon for parts of Queensland’s southern interior and the north of the state,

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Teenage boy dies while water-tubing on river on Queensland’s Fraser coast

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The 14-year-old was being towed behind a boat on a tube when he fell off and disappeared from view on Sunday

A search and rescue effort has ended in tragedy after the body of a 14-year-old boy was pulled from a river on Queensland’s Fraser Coast.

The boy was being towed behind a boat on a tube when he fell off and disappeared from view just after 10am on Sunday.

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‘Severe, intense conditions’: Christmas weather could be stormy in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra

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NSW SES warns heavy rain may cause flash flooding with storms forecast across three states from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day

Residents of Australia’s eastern states have been warned to prepare for severe storms forecast over the Christmas weekend.

Thunderstorms are expected between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day across a broad region, including much of New South Wales and south-east Queensland and spreading down into Victoria.

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