Cyclone weakens after threatening Darwin of Australia
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Australia's Darwin residents are cleaning up and assessing the damage left by tropical cyclone Carlos, as the storm on Thursday moved off the coast and away from populated areas.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the category one cyclone Carlos on Thursday weakened into a tropical low, after menacing Darwin of Northern Territory with gale force winds up to 98km/h, and heavy rain overnight.
According to local media, that Cyclone Carlos has caused extensive damage to roads and power lines forcing the indefinite closure of schools, courts, pubs, tourism attractions, the NT Parliament and Darwin Airport.
Trees are down throughout the city, blocking roads and about 1, 000 homes are still without power.
The bureau said Darwin has recorded an all time record rainfall for February of 838 millimeters, beating the previous February monthly record of 814mm, in 1969.
Low-lying streets, parks and ovals have been flooded and dozens of homes have been damaged by trees and flooding.
On Thursday morning, Darwin region was experiencing lowering wind gusts of about 50km/h, and the cyclone warning between Port Keats to Oenpelli, including Darwin, Batchelor, Adelaide River and the Tiwi Islands, has been canceled.
A cyclone watch is now current for coastal areas from Daly River Mouth in the Northern Territory to Kalumburu in Western Australia.
Forecaster Mark Kersamakers said the system will probably move south-west, but there is still the possibility it could re- intensify.
"We certainly do expect it to take a more south-westward track which could put it back towards the coast down towards the Daly River region and coast," he told ABC News on Thursday.
"So we would still need to maintain watches and probably warnings for parts of the coast even if we did downgrade it," he said.
Police Commissioner John McRoberts said even though the system is weakening, schools will remain closed on Thursday.
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