Australia braces for fresh downpours

The north-east of Australia is bracing itself for more torrential rain when a tropical cyclone is due to hit land late on Sunday.

Cyclone Steve, with wind gusts of up to 140 km/h (90 mph) is expected to cross the coast near Cairns, where residents are still mopping up after a rainstorm dumped 15cm (six inches) of water on the city in just six hours early on Saturday.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Lorraine Johns criticised two boats that left for the Great Barrier Reef, the area's main tourist attraction, early on Sunday, ignoring warnings of the dangerous weather.

"It is pretty stupid for them to go out when they knew there was a cyclone out there," she said.

"I would be panicking if I was a tourist on board."

Dead sheep

Further south, one-third of Queensland and swathes of inland New South Wales and South Australia, which are arid and dusty for most of the year, are still underwater after torrential rainfall in recent days.

Nobody has been killed or injured, but Department of Agriculture officials estimated that 10,000 sheep had died by Friday, with the tally rising each day.

"What we've got is three million hectares inundated and 25 homesteads, or about 100 people, who may be isolated by flood waters for up to six weeks," State Emergency Services (SES) duty operations officer Rick Stone said on Sunday.

Food drops to cut-off homesteads were due to begin within two or three days as families wait for the waters to drain away.

The SES said 3,000 square kilometres (1,200 square miles) of New South Wales remained affected after a downpour last Sunday dumped 30cm (12 inches) of rain in about 12 hours.

In addition, floodwaters from Queensland were expected to reach New South Wales through the Paroo River system later in the week, but the SES said it was too early to assess what impact they might have.

The New South Wales Government declared the area a natural disaster on Friday night and promised affected families would receive relief money from the government.