Cyclone Alfred downgraded to tropical low as it nears Australia
The former tropical cyclone lay about 65 kilometres (40 miles) off the coast of the Queensland capital Brisbane, government forecasters said in a final update.
Now deprived of its gale-force winds, the storm was slowly moving north and was expected to cross over the mainland later in the morning, it said.
"Despite its weakening, heavy rainfall is likely to continue over southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales during the weekend," the bureau of meteorology said.
The rains could still lead to "dangerous and life-threatening" flash flooding across the 400-kilometre (250-mile) stretch of coastline straddling the two states.
One man was missing after his four-wheel drive vehicle was swept off a bridge into a rain-swollen river the previous day in northern New South Wales.
He clambered out of the vehicle and tried in vain to cling to a branch. "The man was swept from the tree and seen to go beneath the water where he has not been sighted since," police said in a statement.
A "staggering" number of more than 239,000 properties in southeast Queensland were without power on Saturday morning after winds toppled power lines or blew trees and debris into them, utility group Energex said.
It had been too dangerous for crews to work in some blacked-out areas, Energex Brisbane area manager Chris Graham told national broadcaster ABC.
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12-07-2025
- Yahoo
Texas flash floods: more rain forecast as death toll passes 100
The death toll from the flash floods that have wreaked devastation in Texas since Friday has passed 100 and is expected to rise further as more victims are found and more rain threatens to deluge the region. Camp Mystic, the girls summer camp on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas, has confirmed that 27 children and counsellors died. 'Our hearts are broken alongside our families that are enduring this unimaginable tragedy. We are praying for them constantly,' a statement on the camp website read. The search continued for missing people, it said, adding: 'We ask for your continued prayers, respect and privacy for each of our families affected.' Related: 'No warning at all': Texas flood survivors question safety planning and officials' response Camp Mystic is a nondenominational Christian institution that has hosted the children of some of Texas's political elite over its 99-year history. Former first lady Laura Bush was a camp counselor there, and past camp attendees included the daughters of former US president Lyndon B Johnson and the former Texas governor John Connally. 'Our hearts are broken by the devastation from the floods in Wimberley and the tragic loss of so many lives – including a precious little Hunt cousin, along with several friends' little girls,' said Tavia Hunt, wife of the Kansas City Chiefs owner, Clark Hunt, in an Instagram post. A Camp Mystic counselor, Chloe Childress, also died in the flooding, a representative of her high school confirmed on Sunday. Childress was remembered as compassionate and known for helping others feel, 'feel safe, valued, and brave', a statement to a local ABC affiliate said. The number of missing people from other nearby camps has not been released, as officials said life-threatening flooding remained a threat as crews continued an urgent search for people still missing. The Guadalupe River rose 26ft (8 meters) in 45 minutes in Friday's pre-dawn hours, after a downpour north of San Antonio. The sheriff of Kerr county, Larry Leitha, has said at least 68 people were found dead in an area of Texas known as the Hill Country. There are several summer camps there. At least 10 other deaths were reported in the counties of Travis, Burnet, Kendall, Tom Green and Williamson, local officials have said. The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, warned that additional rounds of heavy rains lasting into Tuesday could produce more perilous flooding, especially in places where the ground is already saturated. Kerr residents were clearing mud from their destroyed properties and saving what belongings they could. Some said the heroism of the neighbors was all that saved them, as authorities faced questions about whether enough warnings about the downpour were issued, how many actually received them and whether enough was done to prepare for the rain. Reagan Brown told the Associated Press that his parents, in their 80s, managed to escape uphill as water inundated their home in the town of Hunt. When Brown's parents learned that their 92-year-old neighbor was trapped in her attic, they went back and rescued her. 'Then they were able to reach their toolshed up higher ground, and neighbors throughout the early morning began to show up at their toolshed, and they all rode it out together,' Brown said. A video posted on X showed girls from Camp Mystic being evacuated and singing the hymns Pass It On and Amazing Grace as they crossed a bridge over the Guadalupe River, which was still flowing fiercely. Local officials have already faced questions about what kind of flood warning systems and evacuation plans were in place in the county. Judge Rob Kelly, the county's top elected official, told reporters that 'nobody saw this coming'. The county had considered a tornado warning-style siren in the past, but Kelly said the public had 'reeled at the cost'. 'There's going to be a lot of finger-pointing, a lot of second-guessing and Monday morning quarterbacking,' said the Republican US representative Chip Roy, whose district includes Kerr county, according to the Associated Press. 'There's a lot of people saying 'why' and 'how', and I understand that.' The US Department of Homeland Security responded to criticism of warning systems on Sunday on social media by saying mainstream media were 'lying' and that the National Weather Service issued timely warnings. Donald Trump on Sunday signed a major disaster declaration for Kerr county, which is meant to unlock federal resources meant to help local officials. He said he would probably visit on Friday, a week after the deadly flash flood, saying to go earlier might impede search and recovery efforts. Associated Press contributed reporting
12-07-2025
Texas flooding live updates: Death toll at 129 as search continues for the missing
Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 103 deaths. 1:14 At least 129 people are dead from the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country. Kerr County was hit the hardest, with at least 103 deaths, including 36 children. President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration for the county and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is on the ground there. Search and rescue operations are ongoing. Key Headlines 6 minutes ago 129 dead in Texas 4:24 PM EDT Trump defends response, dismisses concerns about alerts 4:23 PM EDT Melania Trump to grieving parents: 'We are grieving with you' 4:07 PM EDT Trump speaks on devastation, ongoing search and recovery efforts 3:21 PM EDT Trump meets with first responders Here's how the news is developing. 29 Updates Jul 08, 2025, 12:21 AM EDT Country musician Pat Green's brother and family missing after Texas flood Country musician Pat Green said his family "suffered a heartbreaking and deeply personal loss" during the flooding in Central Texas. His wife, Kori Green, shared on social media that Pat Green's brother John, his wife, Julia, and their two children remain missing after the Kerrville flood over the weekend. "We are heartbroken and anxiously waiting for all of them to be found," she wrote. -ABC News' Olivia Osteen and Peter Charalambous Jul 07, 2025, 9:42 PM EDT Texas Sen. Ted Cruz calls flooding aftermath 'most horrible thing I've ever seen' Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called the flooding aftermath at Texas' Camp Mystic -- where at least 27 campers and counselors died amid flooding -- "the most horrible thing I've ever seen." "The water rose 7 and 8 feet … the cabins are cleaned out, all of the furniture has been pulled out by the current," he told Lindsey David on ABC News Live Prime after touring the campground. "It's heartbreaking." Cruz said his daughters have gone to summer camps in Kerr County, in Texas' Hill Country, for 10 years and said just last week, his wife had picked up their youngest daughter from camp. For now, the focus remains on search and rescue, Cruz said, but in the coming weeks and months, he said he hopes to take a look at the timeline of exactly what happened and when warnings went out to see if something could have been done better. "There's no doubt, any one of us, if we had a time machine and we could step in it right now, we would run to those girls' cabins and pull them out of the cabins before the floodwaters rose," he said. "And so it's worth asking, what could have been done differently?" "You know, look, people love to play politics. I was overseas on a family vacation when this happened. I was almost immediately on the phone," Cruz said, adding, "And then I booked a flight and came back." Cruz said he left Sunday morning and arrived in Texas on Sunday night. Jul 07, 2025, 5:56 PM EDT Over 100 dead in Texas Over 100 people have died from flooding in Texas. The vast majority of the fatalities -- 84 -- were in Kerr County. Deaths have also been confirmed in Travis, Williamson, Burnet, Tom Green and Kendall counties. There have been over 850 high-water rescues, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said. Flash flood warnings issued night before, NWS had 'surge staffing' Questions have swirled around if there was enough warning and enough staffing for the early Friday morning floods in the wake of the Trump administration's job cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But NOAA confirmed that the National Weather Service's Austin/San Antonio office had five meteorologists working the severe weather event as part of its "surge staffing" protocol. It is normally staffed with two. NOAA also said the NWS had forecast briefings Thursday morning, issued a flood watch Thursday afternoon and then issued flash flood warnings on Thursday night and early Friday. This gave "preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred," NOAA said in a statement. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, "Blaming President Trump for these floods is a depraved lie, and it serves no purpose during this time of national mourning." Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday, "Some people [are] engaging in partisan games and trying to blame their political opponents for a natural disaster." "I think most normal Americans know that's ridiculous and I think this is not a time for partisan finger pointing and attacks," he said. 'I think it is reasonable, over time, to engage in a retrospective and say, at every level, what could have been done better, because all of us would want to prevent this horrific loss of life," he said. Chuck Schumer, the Senate's top Democrat, is calling for an investigation into whether cuts made to NWS had any correlation to the level of devastation. -ABC News' Lalee Ibssa
27-06-2025
'Wizard of Oz' experience: Woman speaks out after surviving tornado
A Florida woman is speaking out after she survived an EF-1 tornado that lifted her house off its foundation while she was inside. Deborah Mettler, 76, described the ordeal to ABC affiliate WFTS-TV in Tampa Bay, Florida, likening it to something straight out of a movie. 'It was really [akin to] a 'Wizard of Oz' experience,' Mettler said, referencing the tornado scene in the classic 1939 movie. The dramatic event unfolded in Largo, Florida, north of St. Petersburg, on June 25 and was caught on Mettler's neighbor Lori Gill's Ring camera. Footage shows the moment Mettler's mobile home was lifted nearly completely off the ground for about 15 seconds by 110 mph winds before slamming back down. Mettler was in her home for the entire time and said she didn't know what had happened at first. 'I didn't realize I was actually up in the air,' Mettler said. 'I was too busy doing somersaults and getting thrashed from one side of the room, through the wall, to the other side.' 'I ended up back here in the bedroom. I had been in what was a family room and stepped out, which was good, because it's no longer there at all,' she continued. 'So if I had stayed in that room, I don't know what would have happened to me.' Mettler walked away with only bruises after a neighbor helped her get out of her house. A neighbor named Kathy told WFTS, 'How she survived it, it is unbelievable." Photos and video footage show the extensive damage to the city. About 40 to 50 residences at Ranchero Village and 10 to 15 in the Bay Ranch Manufactured Home Communities had minor to severe storm-related damage.
