Thousands without power in Tassie

Thousands of homes in Tasmania will remain without power overnight after southerly
winds lashed the state, bringing down trees and heavy bands of rain.
There are no reports of injuries but more than 300 powerlines were brought down in
the storm as gale-force winds battered the island state.
Wind gusts reached 139km/h at Maatsuyker Island on the southern Tasmanian coast
while as much as 69mm of rain had fallen in Scotts Peak by early Sunday morning.
In Hobart more than 25mm of rain has fallen in the past 24 hours.
"We've had no injuries but we're inundated in relation to trees down, powerlines
down and a little bit of flooding," said Acting Sergeant Kim Jensen.
"There are a few road closures."
The storm knocked out power to 37,000 homes by 1.30pm (AEST) but Aurora Energy crews
had fixed most outages by late evening.
The power company reported that more than 5,000 homes would be without power
overnight and asked customers to be patient as remaining "outages are expected to be
lengthy".
The Bureau of Meteorology's Debbie Tabor said the intense low pressure system was
unusual because it brought rare southerly winds that helped topple trees rooted in
very wet soil.
"We've had southerlies all day and the rain has just saturated everything. That's
why it's caused such widespread damage," she said. "The ground is just so wet
already."
Stormwater had caused some flooding in Glenorchy and Granton in Hobart's north.
Powerlines and a tree on the street had prompted the closure of Bridle Track Road at
Kimberley, south of Devonport.
There is some relief on the way as Monday's forecast is expected to bring clearer
skies.
Tasmania has had its wettest winter on record since 1954.