Storms cause havoc in Australia

Nov 10, 2011 |

IANS

Melbourne

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A series of wild storms that swept across Australia's Victoria state have damaged many homes, brought down trees and caused flash flooding.

The State Emergency Service (SES) said around 500 volunteers were working through Wednesday night trying to answer over 800 calls for help.

The SES said most of the calls were related to flash flooding, and there were also around 200 reports of damage to buildings caused by hailstones and heavy rainfall, Xinhua reported.

It said there were 150 reports of fallen trees, many in towns northwest of Melbourne. In Wodonga area, a number of houses had their roofs ripped off, making few of them uninhabitable. About 13,000 homes were without power across the state.

On Wednesday night, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Melbourne metropolitan area.

It said destructive winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones were likely to recur.

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