CANBERRA (Reuters) -Several towns in eastern Australia were blanketed with their thickest layer of snow in decades as wild weather swept the area this weekend, causing floods, stranding vehicles and cutting power to thousands of homes, authorities said.
About 50 cm (20 inches) of snow had been forecast to fall on Saturday in some areas, with more than 10 cm of rain expected in others, the New South Wales State Emergency Service said. Conditions were easing on Sunday.
Parts of the state’s New England North West region received their deepest snow in 20 years, state broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corp reported, while the Sydney Morning Herald said an area of the neighbouring state of Queensland had its first snow in 10 years.
The emergency service said it had responded to more than 1,455 incidents and more than 100 vehicles had been stranded by snow, adding that storms had damaged buildings and it had issued several major flood warnings.
Tens of thousands of homes spent the night without power, the ABC said.
Police in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, said a car had become stuck in floodwater on Saturday evening and a female passenger in her 20s was swept away. The search was continuing on Sunday, they said.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson in Canberra; Editing by William Mallard)
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