Dec 14: Melbourne has been hit with widespread flash flooding after the Victorian capital was drenched by a supercell storm on Friday afternoon.
Severe weather in Sydney also left a path of destruction, with State Emergency Service crews working through dozens of calls for assistance. And in Queensland, the “back from the dead” Cyclone Owen has authorities on high alert as it builds and bears down on nervous communities in the north.
In the state’s southeast, a line of thunderstorms swept the sky earlier this evening. Earlier, major cities across Australia’s east coast endured commuter and motorist chaos as the worst of wild weather struck late on Friday afternoon. Melbourne copped the worst of it, with videos showing waterfalls of rain cascading down stairs in Flinders St as the storm swept through in just 30 minutes.
The CBD received almost 35mm of rain between 5 and 5.30pm. The havoc even took out Channel 9’s city camera.
BOM senior forecaster Richard Carlyon told The Herald Sun a millimetre a minute was very significant.
Thousands of peak-hour passengers were stranded in the city.
- news.com.au