Baghdad-WAA
A woman was killed, schools were closed and tens of thousands of people were without power on Monday as severe storms battered Australia.
A 63-year-old woman was killed after a tree fell on a hut in the southeast of the country, police said.
The area was hit by “destructive” winds of more than 110 kilometres (68 miles) per hour, causing power outages for about 150,000 people.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan warned the power outage could take up to three days to fix. “There are some areas where conditions are still too dangerous to make repairs,” she said.
Meanwhile, coastal areas were affected by high tides and people were warned to avoid unnecessary travel, while some schools were closed.
Authorities in New South Wales are concerned that damaging winds could increase the risk of fires on Monday, with a number of areas on high alert.
Flooding has hit parts of Tasmania as winds peaked at 150 kilometres (93.2 miles) per hour over the weekend.