Australian Defence Force deployed to airdrop supplies to flood-hit region

Canberra, Jan 30 (IANS) The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has been deployed to deliver essential supplies to flood-stricken parts of South Australia (SA).Steven Marshall, the Premier of SA, on Sunday announced that the ADF will fly 20 tonnes of food and supplies into the town Coober Pedy in the state's north on Monday ahead of a forecast extreme weather, reports Xinhua news agency."We are very grateful to our friends in the Australian Defence Force who have been helping South Australia, first with the bushfires of course, then with our response to coronavirus and now with these extreme weather events," Marshall said.The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has warned parts of SA's north to brace for up to 200 mm of rain in the next three days with a forecast peak on Tuesday, potentially cutting remote towns off from the rest of the state.It comes with vast regions of the Outback already underwater due to an unprecedented flooding.The Stuart Highway, which connects dozens of towns in rural SA including Coober Pedy to the state capital Adelaide and the Northern Territory (NT), remained under half a metre of water on Sunday while vital freight rail tracks have been damaged and will not be repaired until mid-February.Marshall urged motorists to avoid travelling to the region, with anyone driving between Adelaide and the NT forced to take a detour through Queensland."Unless you need to be traveling in the north of South Australia, please stay away -- this is a very dangerous situation," he said."Our concern is the further extreme weather and rainfall events forecast over the next 72 hours."This is going to further exacerbate the already difficult situation that we are envisaging."
--IANS ksk/

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