Sunday, June 30, 2013

Landslides, fallen trees in Sydney wet - Ninemsn


Almost two weeks of heavy rain has wrought chaos across Sydney, causing trees to be uprooted and a landslide and embankment collapse at a train station.




No one was hurt when the concrete wall collapsed across the westbound lane and onto platform 4 at Harris Park Station near Parramatta on Sunday evening, but commuters on Sydney's Western Line were advised to expect delays, particularly during the afternoon peak hour.


Pieces of concrete, fencing and trees spilled across the platform and onto the tracks, and could take days to clean up, a Railcorp spokesman told News Ltd.


June is traditionally Sydney's wettest month, with 316 millimetres falling this year.


While that's more than double the average of 132 millimetres, it's less than half the record 643 millimetres experienced in 1950.


Earlier on Sunday, a fig tree collapsed in Hyde Park, reportedly narrowly missing two mothers and their children.


Large trees in the park will be inspected on Monday to ensure they don't pose a danger.


In Centennial Park over the weekend, a tree fell across the children's bicycle path, blocking the route.


Security ranger Jose Rodriguez told AAP no one was around when the tree toppled, and that it would be cleared out of the way on Monday.


The flooding was "pretty bad", he said, with bridges underwater in parts of the park as ponds and lakes overflowed, washing out parts of walking trails near the Kensington gates.


But if the weather improved the water would recede in two to three days, Mr Rodriguez said.


After sustained torrential rain for 10 days the skies are finally clearing, and it's predicted to be a sunny week with temperatures between 17C and 19C, a Bureau of Meteorology forecaster told AAP.


Parts of the state will still experience some rain but there's no severe weather warnings in place, the bureau's forecaster said.


The new chief executive of Sydney Trains, Howard Collins, said it was lucky no one was hurt when the wall collapsed at Harris Park Station.


"I think you can say the gods were on our side at that time," he told reporters in Sydney.


The former CEO of the London Underground visited the site on Monday morning and said he was determined to make sure the incident had a limited impact on customers.


"I've been through a few of these in the past, you know I've got the battle scars, and I think I need to make sure I press upon the importance of customer service when we deal with such issues.


"We have had a lot of rain but we are going to work 24/7 from this afternoon to clear what is extensive landfall on the platform."


Mr Collins said an independent investigation would be conducted into the cause of the collapse.


He warned commuters to expect delays on Monday afternoon and throughout the week.


"I would give advice to customers for the rest of this week certainly there will be delays particularly in the evenings and afternoon peaks."


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