THE two largest states are facing different weather, with summer storms in Queensland and a heatwave in Western Australia.
Severe weather warnings have been issued for central Queensland, Darling Downs and surrounding regions and the rain caused several traffic accidents at the weekend, The Australian reports.
Floodwaters also cut two outback highways near Mount Isa.
A caravan park at Emerald was evacuated, residents in low-lying areas around Roma were on alert for overnight flooding and St George was expected to be affected later in the week.
Beaches on the Gold and Sunshine coasts were eroded and littered with debris yesterday. Creeks and streams in Brisbane were still overflowing and water continued to be released from the area's major dams as a precaution.
Two children thought missing in a Brisbane storm drain were later found safe and well.
In Western Australia, authorities warned residents and tourists to leave parts of the southwest immediately because of the fire threat to lives and homes.
The most serious fire was southeast of the tourist town of Margaret River and had burned through 50ha by late yesterday.
The Fire and Emergency Services Authority yesterday warned people they were in danger and had to "act immediately to survive".
The authority said there were no reports of property loss in the rural area but it could not say how many homes were at risk.
North of Margaret River, in the small towns of Metricup, Wilyabrup and Yelverton, a second fire was posing a possible threat to lives and homes last night.
The fire began when a tree fell on a powerline.
Water bombers were being used along with firefighters on the ground at both sites.
In the north of Western Australia near Exmouth, warnings of floods and devastation from Cyclone Iggy were downgraded after the category-2 cyclone changed track and was no longer expected to hit the coast.
Residents remain on the lowest alert level, blue, and the cyclone may intensify to a category-3 but the Bureau of Meteorology no longer expects significant damage.
Yesterday also brought needed relief from the heat for Perth residents, with the temperature dropping to about 33 degrees.
The city had been on track to equal a 1933 record of four days of temperatures above 40 but this was avoided after a lower than expected top of 34.8 was recorded on Friday.
Read more at The Australian.
