Name: Extreme weather events cause widespread damage across Australia
Uploaded: 2025-12-27T06:45:13.488Z
Duration: 3 min 48 s
Description: Parts of the nation have been hit by extreme weather, from bushfires on the NSW Central Coast and Western Australia, to flooding and heavy rain in Queensland. Earlier this year, Cyclone Alfred washed away sections of the Gold Coast’s beaches.

Parts of the nation have been hit by extreme weather, from bushfires on the NSW Central Coast and Western Australia, to flooding and heavy rain in Queensland. Earlier this year, Cyclone Alfred washed away sections of the Gold Coast’s beaches.

Brisbane

Australia has faced a succession of extreme weather events, with bushfires destroying homes and bushland on the New South Wales central coast, and historic flooding submerging communities in Queensland. Residents in affected areas have reported significant personal and material losses, with some towns only accessible by boat during the worst of the floods.

Further severe weather included Cyclone Alfred impacting Queensland, giant hailstorms damaging homes and infrastructure, and tornadoes striking both Melbourne and Perth, leaving thousands without power and causing long-term disruption. As summer arrives, authorities and residents remain on alert for further storms, fires, and cyclones across the country.

Extreme weather events cause widespread damage across Australia

Dense bushland dotted with homes that never stood a chance as flames ripped through the New South Wales central coast. HEAVY RAIN The heat and wind became an unstoppable force as flames leapt from roof to roof, balcony to balcony. Thick black smoke smothered the Woi Woi area and made it difficult to see the extent of the damage. 24 hours later, residents returned, the clearing smoke revealing the stark reality of all that was taken by the ferocious flames. Everything. Everything. You know, I've got several vintage cars in there that are gone. Um, I collect old books about aviation. Some of them are extremely rare. They're all gone. It was a different story in Queensland, with flooding as far as the eye could see, street after street, submerged across Ingham. It's gone up big time. The road signs are underwater. Residents flooded in for days as rain bucketed down and swallowed up the community. The worst flood event in a century, with boats the only way to get out for stranded locals. Nearby towns impacted too, streets turning to rivers. Bluewater, 30 minutes from Townsville, living up to its name. Yeah, the river met the road and it pretty much just came through the house. Bit overwhelmed here. Don't know where to start, really. Bluewater Creek is still racing, but it's nothing compared to what it was. Right now, it's sitting at around four metres higher, but yesterday afternoon, it doubled to 8.2. Just a couple of weeks later, Queensland braced for impact again. The eye of the cyclone is much larger than that, so as you would imagine, as it's positioned here, the edge of the eye will be already pushing onto the coast. From the city to the coast, Queenslanders batten down the hatches as Alfred loomed. You can see here this massive surge coming in right now, people rushing up to try and get to dry land. The rain, I'm not sure if you can see, it is light, but it is blowing absolutely sideways. Wave heights will be around five to six metres. Today, we've seen them closer to seven metres. The Gold Coast, copping the full brunt, its beaches washed away, left scarred for kilometres. Months later, more wild weather for Queensland. Giant hail pummeling homes and cars. Bribie Island smashed by storms. Roofing lifted, trees uprooted and power lines taken down. Cars no match for mammoth trees. A lot of people are going to feel the pain for a long time. Yeah, we're OK. The house is OK. We're OK. So it's just a bit emotional, I think. Never seen anything like it. Don't want to see it again. In Melbourne, a tornado tore through the inner west, ripping up roofs, tearing down trees and power lines and leaving more than 25,000 residents in the dark. Went off like an explosion. Just all of a sudden, the whole house shook and everything felt like it moved. It was like a bomb going off. And we could see a massive spark to one side of us. Just weeks ago, out-of-control blazes tore through Geraldton in Western Australia, fanned by wind gusts of more than 80 kilometres an hour, putting hundreds of homes and an aged-care facility in the firing line. Then Perth City Beach copped a hiding as a tornado tore through and left behind a scar on the landscape. There could be months' worth of clean-up. Summer has now arrived, storm and fire season, and for those in the northern half of the sunburned country, cyclone season looms once more. Brendan Smith, 10 News.

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