Australian PM praises community response to cyclone Debbie

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has praised the resilience of Australians affected by tropical cyclone Debbie, a media report said on Tuesday.

Five people have been confirmed dead and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of damage has been caused by the cyclone, which ripped through the state of Queensland and down the New South Wales north coast last week.

Speaking at a press conference here, Turnbull said while Debbie had ravaged communities with its destructive winds and the ensuing floods, Australians had come together as a community to help one another clean up, Xinhua news agency reported.

It has been a natural disaster spread across the length and breadth of the east coast of Australia, he said.

"The solidarity, the cooperation, I've seen it myself yesterday (on Monday) and last week," he said.

"Australians have pulled together. The Australian Defence Force, the emergency services, the police and communities (have all) worked together to clean up, repair the damage and get back on their feet."

The Prime Minister said while the clean-up was continuing in many parts of Queensland and New South Wales, some cities, such as Rockhampton, were yet to see the peak flood levels, posing a danger to those in the area.

Turnbull's press conferences come after he toured the affected areas over the weekend. In some parts of the nation, the cyclone brought almost an entire year's amount of rain in just 48 hours.

--IANS

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