GEOLOGICAL UPHEAVAL: "Oh No, We've Got A Tsunami" - Massive Sinkhole Swallows Up THREE CARS And Trees In Melbourne, Australia; Threatens To Flood 50 Homes!

A sinkhole in Port Melbourne threatened to flood 50 homes at one stage, Melbourne Fire Brigade commander said. © Grant Stevenson

December 25, 2014 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Residents in a Melbourne suburb woke today to find a massive sinkhole that swallowed cars and trees.

Firefighters were called to Port Melbourne early on Tuesday after a 350mm cast iron water main ruptured under Liardet Street.

Witness Vanessa says she thought a tsunami had hit the waterside suburb.

"I heard car horns, car alarms going off erratically. I thought someone had broken into my car," she told Fairfax radio.

"I went out there, opened up my front door and saw two cars swallowed up in the street right outside my front door and all this water gushing down the street in front of me.


WATCH: Sinkhole swallows cars as burst main floods Port Melbourne street.

"I thought, 'Oh no, we've got a tsunami'."

MFB commander Paul Foster said the torrent threatened to flood 50 houses at one stage.

"It was obviously quite a big failure of the pipe, a big rupture, and it created a sinkhole large enough to swallow one car completely and another car about halfway," he told Fairfax radio.

"As well, a number of cars in the street were affected by the water." - SBS.

DELUGE OF NATURAL DISASTERS: Scary Christmas in Australia - Prime Minister Gillard Reveals Widespread Suffering in What Was Suppose to be a Merry Season! UPDATE: Floods Have Cut Off Northern Australia! UPDATE: Uncontrollable Bushfires Ravages Western Australia!

Natural disasters, fires and car crashes have made it a tough Christmas for many Aussies, Prime Minister Julia Gillard says. Ms Gillard said reports of Australians caught up in difficulties were becoming all too common over the holidays.

"So while it's a time of joy and friendship and family for many Australians, it can often be a time of hardship for some," the PM told reporters in Adelaide on Wednesday. "For Australians who have faced hardship over the last few days while we've been celebrating Christmas, I think all Australians have been thinking of them as we've seen what they've gone through. "That's certainly been my view as I've seen people caught up in all sorts of circumstances and difficulties over the Christmas season." Ms Gillard's comments referred to widespread flooding across Melbourne and northwest Victoria and floods in the Northern Territory from ex-tropical Cyclone Grant. On Sunday, Victoria was hit by a series of storms that brought huge hailstones, torrential rain, flash flooding and even a tornado, causing widespread damage. The Northern Territory floods caused a freight train to derail near the Edith River bridge about 40km north of Katherine early on Tuesday morning. Two train drivers were injured and flown to hospital.

On the nation's roads, there have been 25 deaths so far over the holiday period, with 11 in NSW. Among them was a disabled teenage boy who was thrown out of his wheelchair on Christmas Day when his mother, who was driving a van with the boy in the back in Wagga Wagga, braked suddenly. A five-year-old girl was thrown from the back seat of a car when it hit a tree at Broadwater, in northern NSW, on Boxing Day. The nation has also been shocked by the fire at the Sunshine Coast house of celebrity chef Matt Golinski, which claimed the lives of his wife and three daughters. Mr Golinski remains in a critical but stable condition in Royal Brisbane Hospital's intensive care unit after the blaze at his Tewantin property on Monday. A Sudanese soccer player is undergoing surgery for a fracture after his team's bus rolled on a NSW Central Coast highway about 4.20am (AEDT) on Wednesday. Without referring directly to any of the incidents, Ms Gillard said such tragedies seemed even more troubling at this time of year. It strikes us particularly heavily at this time of year when we know so many people are celebrating and then you see our fellow Australians doing it tough," she said. - Yahoo Australia.

Major supply and transport routes to parts of Australia's tropical north were cut Wednesday after wild weather derailed a freight train and destroyed sections of a major highway.

Storms linked to ex-tropical cyclone Grant caused flash flooding across the remote Northern Territory that washed a 33-wagon iron ore train off a bridge and swept slabs of roadway from the Stuart Highway. The Territory's chief minister Paul Henderson said there had been “significant damage” to roads and engineers were yet to inspect bridges. “Until the waters recede we're not going to have a clear picture as to the structural impacts ... so we're hoping that the waters recede as quickly as they came up,” Henderson told ABC Radio. The damage means that access to the Territory's tropical north, known locally as the Top End, is reliant on air travel, prompting concern about restocking supermarkets and other essentials. “We have got an issue now with supplies,” said Willem Westra Van Holthe, a local politician from the town of Katherine, which gets most of its food from Darwin, further north. “Shelves will be hit pretty hard, I would imagine.”

Henderson said he was hopeful of reopening the arterial Stuart Highway within 48 hours but the rail link was likely to take longer. The derailed freight train's operators Genesee and Wyoming said crews were inspecting the damaged 350-metre segment and “it is not yet known how long repairs will take.” Genesee and Wyoming said an empty crew van and five wagons - two of which contained hazardous copper concentrate - were derailed when flood waters washed away the southern base of the Edith River bridge north of Katherine. Copper concentrate is considered a hazardous substance and inspectors from the environment department are investigating whether there has been any leak. “We're taking it pretty seriously,” a department spokeswoman said. The railway damage has left The Ghan passenger train, which runs through Australia's desert Outback from the southern city of Adelaide to Darwin, stranded in Katherine with about 200 passengers on board. “The Stuart Highway is also presently closed north of Katherine and we have now been advised it will be closed for an estimated time of 48 hours,” said operator Great Southern Rail. Grant was downgraded to a tropical low on Monday but it is expected to return to cyclone strength on Friday as it crosses the Gulf of Carpentaria to neighbouring Queensland state. - IOL News.

Firefighters are battling three bushfires in Western Australia's Mid West and Gascoyne regions as temperatures soar.

A fire is burning out of control 120 kilometres east of Carnarvon as temperatures reach into the high 30s. The Fire and Emergency Services Authority (FESA) says it the blaze is unpredictable and a forecast wind change will push the it west towards the Kennedy national park this afternoon. No homes or lives have been threatened and FESA is warning motorists to avoid the area. The Department of Environment and Conservation (DSE) is monitoring the fire from the air and says the blaze was sparked by lightning.

Meanwhile, firefighters are continuing to battle a bushfire which has burnt through 180,000 hectares on the eastern side of Exmouth Gulf. The crews are continuing to complete containment lines. At one point, the blaze threatened the Giralia homestead. Crews managed to contain the fire but the DSE's Arvid Hogstrom says the focus is still on controlling the blaze. "We still haven't had the opportunity to really look into the cause," he said. - Yahoo Australia.

EXTREME WEATHER: "WEATHER BOMBS" Hit Australia - Severe Thunderstorms, Wild Tornadoes, Damaging Winds, Flooding Rain and "Baseball-Sized" Hail! UPDATE: Tracking Tropical Cyclones Thane and Grant!

Residents in Taylors Lakes woke to the realisation they had copped the worst of the storm that ruined Christmas for many Melbourne families.

A tornado ripped through the suburb late on Sunday afternoon, leaving residents scrambling to make repairs in what some described as a "war zone". Lola Johnson, 74, escaped serious injury when a bedroom ceiling caved in. The grandmother of 10 returned from a family lunch to find her home flooded. "I had a look around and there was water flooding in, then I went to one of the bedrooms where I keep my granddaughter's Barbies," she said. "I looked up at the roof and saw a crack and then within a second it fell on top of me. I was right under it and it all fell on me, the whole thing. I couldn't believe it."


Mrs Johnson said she could not contact her insurance company yesterday and was concerned the home was going to collapse. Charlie Gavriel was entertaining 25 people at his Angourie Cres home when the lights went out about 4pm. He was still waiting for power to be restored yesterday afternoon. "It just came out of nowhere. It was like a bomb hit, I haven't seen anything like it before ... it killed our Christmas," Mr Gavriel said. Peter McKernan described the area as a war zone. "There were people crying, everything was smashed up," he said. - Herald Sun.

A freight train was swept off a bridge during flooding caused by a cyclone in northern Australia.

The two drivers were rescued after being trapped in the vehicle and were flown to hospital in Katherine, south of Darwin, it was reported. The Edith River Bridge collapsed and some carriages from the derailed train floated downstream in the incident, a local MP told ABC News. Environmental authorities in the Northern Territory are believed to be investigating if chemicals from the 20-car iron ore train leaked in the flooded river.


Heavy rain from Cyclone Grant led to isolated flooding in the territory, cutting off roads as drivers became stranded. One couple climbed on to their car roof after the vehicle stalled but they were swept along into the Edith River. They clung to a tree branch until they were rescued. Katherine Police Sergeant Simon Freson told ABC: "They initially reported that they were on the roof of the car. "But as the water came up, they were washed off and thankfully emergency services got there on time to get them out of the trees." - Sky News.

WATCH: Train derailed in Australia flood.

In south-east Queensland, storm cuts power to more than 2500 homes.

Thousands of homes have lost power in south-east Queensland after storms and strong winds swept though the area. Electricity has been cut to more than 2,500 properties in the Logan and Beenleigh region and almost 1,000 homes in the Redcliffe and Caboolture area. Energex says the outage also affected homes in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast. - Yahoo Australia.

In Wagga, flash flooding swamped the region, when a storm hit the city at 4pm and left within an hour.

State Emergency Service (SES) duty officer for the Murrumbidgee region Shane McLachlan said there were 10 calls for assistance in Wagga for damage which included broken roofs, fallen trees and flash flooding. Adjin Street and Waranga Avenue in Mount Austin and Halloran Street in Turvey Park were temporarily closed after they became inundated with water. Bolton Park also became flooded from the deluge. SES crews were called into Junee as the storm moved into the region at around 5pm.

At approximately 6.30pm Coolamon SES attended Ganmain Showground after they were notified of roof damage to the pavilion caused by strong winds. A tree was also reported to have fallen down in Kooringal on Sunday night. The SES are reminding people not to walk, drive or attempt to go through flood-water and to stay away from fallen trees and powerlines. The SES are volunteers who have given up their time during Christmas and on Boxing Day. - Daily Advertiser.

Here are two visual presentations on Tropical Cyclones Thane and Grant and the effects on Australia, the Western Pacific and Asia.

WATCH: Tropical Cyclones Thane & Grant.

EXTREME WEATHER: Severe Earth Changes in Australia - Tropical Cyclone Grant Derails Train, Injuring Two in Darwin; Southeast Queensland, Brisbane and Gold Coast on Storm Alert as Insurance Companies Estimate the Damage to Reach the "Tens of Millions"!

Take a look at the following stories, courtesy of Yahoo Australia on the continuing wild weather in Australia.

Two injured after train derails in cyclone flooding South of Darwin.

Two men have been injured after they were trapped in a freight train that was swept off a bridge near Katherine, south of Darwin. The 20-carriage train derailed near the Edith Falls River Crossing in floodwaters caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Grant. Heavy rain from the system, which is , has brought heavy rain and isolated flooding to the Northern Territory, cutting sections of the Stuart Highway. Hundreds of local residents have also been stranded. Are you in a flood-affected area in the NT?

Police say the train's driver and co-driver have been rescued by emergency workers. One of the men has been airlifted to hospital with back injuries. Earlier, a CareFlight helicopter attempted to rescue the men but had to return to Darwin because it was unable to land in the wet conditions. Member for Katherine, Willem Westra Van Holthe, says the Edith River Bridge has collapsed and carriages are floating downstream. "It's what I'd describe as a scene of devastation here," he said. "Apart from the enormous amount of water flowing across the road, there's sheets of bitumen that have been lifted off and carried away and also it appears as though the train tried to get across this morning while the river has flooded. - Yahoo Australia.

Meanwhile, insurance companies are recalling staff from holidays to cope with the volume of calls from policyholders affected by severe storms that hit Melbourne on Christmas Day.

Thousands of homes, mainly in Melbourne's north, were damaged when storms swept across the city. The Insurance Council of Australia says companies already have received 5,000 calls and are expecting several thousand more. Some residents have been told they will have to wait on the phone for several hours to speak to claims staff. ICA spokesman Campbell Fuller says insurance companies are doing the best they can to respond to the demand. "What we suggest is if your enquiry is not urgent, if it is for instance minor damage to your car, perhaps hold off for a couple of days and let those people with urgent claims get through," Mr Fuller said.

Mr Fuller says the industry expects up to 10,000 claims to be made, with the damage bill likely to run into the tens of millions of dollars. He expects calls to insurers will continue in the coming weeks as people return from holidays to find their homes damaged. But some Victorians may not be covered if insurers decide that damage was caused by floodwaters. Lawyer Michael Bates says most people would be covered for hail and storm damage, but some may not be covered for flood damage. - Yahoo Australia.

To make matters worst, residents of Brisbane and the Gold Coast are bracing for a severe thunderstorm, with predictions of damaging winds and hail to lash the region.

The Bureau of Meteorology said thunderstorms had been detected near Coolangatta about 2.25pm (AEST) on Tuesday. The storms were headed northeast, with Beenleigh, Macleay Island and Victoria Point expected to be hit by 2.55pm, and Amity Point and Mud Island by 3.25pm. A statement on the bureau's website warned of damaging winds and large hailstones across Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Emergency Management Queensland advised residents to move their cars under cover, secure loose outdoor items, seek shelter and avoid using their phones during storms. A more general severe thunderstorm warning is also in place for parts of the central coast, Whitsundays and southeast coast. - Yahoo Australia.

EXTREME WEATHER: Christmas Wild Weather Strikes Victoria and Melbourne in Australia With Tornado and Huge Hailstones - Tens of Millions of Dollars in Damage to Cars, Homes and Businesses!

Hundreds of emergency workers will begin mopping up the mess brought by the wild weather that ripped through parts of Australia on Christmas Day.

Storms pelted Victorians with hailstones as big as billiard balls during a wild Christmas Day barrage. The damage bill could run into tens of millions of dollars after hundreds of cars were bombarded, windows in homes and businesses were smashed and roofing was torn away. The State Emergency Service was called to more than 2500 jobs when a series of storm cells intensified dramatically in Melbourne in the afternoon. The worst was a tornado that hit Fiskville, near Bacchus Marsh, west of Melbourne. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for many parts of Victoria throughout the afternoon and evening, but the weather was expected to improve ahead of today's Boxing Day Test at the MCG. Early this morning, a severe weather warning remained current for parts of southern New South Wales, including Orange, Dubbo, Parkes, Griffith, Broken Hill and Brewarrina.

Around Melbourne yesterday, most calls to the SES were from Keilor Park, Keilor Downs and Taylors Lakes. Parts of Eltham and Greensborough were hit more than once and planes were grounded at Melbourne Airport. Lightning hit the 3AW transmission tower, knocking out its analogue signal and putting it off air to most listeners. About 77 passengers on a flight out of Darwin spent almost four hours at Sale airport after Qantas decided it was unsafe to fly into Melbourne. Metro warned commuters to expect major train delays, with most lines disrupted, and advised passengers to defer non-essential travel. The storm blacked out more than 5000 homes in Port Melbourne, Ballarat, Armadale, Toorak and South Melbourne as families sat down to Christmas dinner.

A family in Apollo Rd, Taylors Lakes, had nine cars damaged and roof tiles and outdoor lights broken when the storm hit about 3.30pm. Robyn Sullivan said the hailstones had been almost as big as tennis balls. "It was like a roar as it came through," she said. "I've never heard anything like it." Jim Egan was at the house for Christmas lunch when his car was pelted with hailstones. "I had nine holes in the back window," he said. "One had come through the window, bounced around the car, and it was lodged between the console and the front windscreen." A couple in Montmorency arrived home from Christmas lunch to find almost a metre of water running through their garage. Michel Long said his Mercedes-Benz, caravan, bikes and other items were damaged. "It's come in through the back of the garage from the next street and it's pushed the caravan through the door of the garage and there's debris everywhere ... the car has damage on the side of it where it's pushed a big cupboard out of the garage" Mr Long said. "I estimate it's probably $25-30,000 damage." SES spokesman Lachlan Quick said hundreds of volunteers had made big sacrifices to help residents. "It's a pretty remarkable effort to drag yourself away from your turkey," he said. - Herald Sun.

WATCH: Eye-witness reports.

Meanwhile, rough surf from ex-tropical Cyclone Fina has forced the closure of half the beaches in New South Wales.

Dean Storey from Surf Life Saving NSW says the large swells are extremely dangerous. "At this stage it's looking likely like at least half of the beaches across the state are closed. The swell is affecting most of the New South Wales coastline," Mr Storey said. "The beaches that are exposed to the north-east are copping the swell the biggest, but the key message today is the whole coastline is affected by a large swell, very strong rips, very strong current. "The north coast has been copping it the last couple of days, but it's now affecting pretty much the whole state." He says swimmers should only swim between the flags at patrolled beaches. - Yahoo Australia.

Queenslanders will have to give Christmas Day picnics on the beach a miss this year as swells as high as four metres take over many popular spots. The Queensland Weather Bureau has issued a severe weather warning for dangerous surf conditions and abnormally high tides for coastal areas. Areas affected include Sandy Cape to Point Danger as well as the Fraser, Sunshine and Gold Coasts. "We've got a low pressure system south of the Coral Sea, we have a high pressure system near New Zealand," forecaster Gavin Holcombe told AAP. "And as a result those systems are producing large swells moving on to those beaches south of Fraser Island. "Those swells are up top the four metre mark and may even get higher. "They are long period swells and as a result when they break on the beach they're particularly strong and pretty dangerous. "As a result those beaches have closed." - Yahoo Australia.

Cyclone Grant has moved on after whipping a remote island in Australia.

Police at remote Croker Island in the Northern Territory say the local community has escaped serious damage from a category two cyclone. Tropical Cyclone Grant intensified into a category two system late on Christmas Day and came within kilometres of Croker Island. The Bureau of Meteorology says the storm brought winds of 130 kilometres per hour and torrential rain. Residents of the island's community of Minjilang, about 230 kilometres north-east of Darwin, took shelter in their homes, and about 70 weathered the storm at a cyclone shelter. But Minjilang police station sergeant Jeff Pickering says conditions have now begun to ease and there have been no reports of major damage.

"Our initial assessment shows there has been no structural damage to any buildings," he said. He says some power lines have fallen and most of the community's trees are down. The local power station was shut earlier today and will remain closed until power lines are restored. Earlier, the weather bureau's director of emergency services, Peter Davies, said the cyclone has caused some damage to Croker Island. - Yahoo Australia.

On the western front of Australia, a bushfire is threatening many lives and homes.

An out-of-control bushfire is threatening lives and homes in Western Australia's mid-west. A bushfire watch and act has been issued for people at Marrilla Station, in the Shire of Carnarvon, and Giralia and Yanrey Stations, in the Shire of Exmouth, including Burkett Road. The fire started near Marrilla Station and crossed Burkett Road last night. It is now burning towards Yanrey Station. The Fire and Emergency Services Authority says there is a risk to lives and homes as conditions are changing. Authorities say residents in the area have been notified and are believed to be safe. - Yahoo Australia.