A record heat wave may have claimed at least 22 lives in South Australia as neighboring Victoria battles bushfires and power outages that have shut businesses and led to public transport chaos in both the states.
The heat has been blamed for a surge in sudden deaths in South Australia, John Hill, the state’s health minister, told Sky News. In Melbourne, the nation’s second-largest city, 500,000 homes lost power, the city’s casino had to close its doors and hundreds of train services were canceled. Melbourne, host city for the Australian Open tennis tournament, posted three straight days of temperatures above 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time in recorded history (45.1 today- 113 farenheit).
The South Australian capital of Adelaide is experiencing its hottest streak since 1908.
“They could be people who are elderly who have succumbed to heat stroke or some exhaustion as a result of the heat,” Hill said. “The ones I am most concerned about who are isolated and live by themselves.”
Today’s forecast high for Melbourne is 37 degrees while Adelaide is expected to reach 40 degrees according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Web site. More than 500 firefighters are battling bushfires covering 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) in eastern Victoria, according to the Country Fire Authority.
In the town of Booolara, 15 homes have been lost, while there haven’t been any reports of fatalities, the News.com Web Site reported.
Power OutageAn explosion at an electrical substation in Melbourne’s outer suburbs cut power to half a million homes overnight while at Crown casino about 5,000 workers, gamblers and restaurant patrons were evacuated when power was lost and a back-up generator failed, News.com said. Connex, operator of Melbourne’s train and tram system, canceled more than a dozen runs today, adding to the 800 trains that didn’t operate as scheduled this week as the heat caused train breakdowns and buckled tracks.
Buckled train tracks on the Noarlunga line in Adelaide.
More:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSZhMl.BVT1k&refer=home