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Weather
Sydney, Feb. 9, 2017 (dpa/NAN) Sydney and other cities in Australia are bracing for extremely hot temperature this weekend, as well as severe bushfire, heatwave and electricity outages, officials said on Thursday.
New South Wales Police said they launched a statewide public awareness plan for staying hydrated and avoiding strenuous activity in light of the heatwave forecasted for the next three days.
The bureau of meteorology said temperatures are expected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in Sydney and parts of New South Wales.
The country’s largest electricity supplier, the health department asked people to take precautions by staying hydrated and limiting physical activity.
According to Australian Energy Market Operator, households across New South Wales State face the prospect of being plunged into the darkness.
It said this was due to high demand for power following extreme heat.
The South Australia capital Adelaide faced power cuts on Wednesday night to prevent entire network from shutting down after temperatures there reached 42 degrees Celsius.
South Australia’s Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis warned his state’s power problems could spread to other parts of the country due to “massive, catastrophic failure of the national electricity market.
“We have an oversupply of generation, but the market is unable to dispatch that electricity to sufficiently meet our needs,” he said.
South Australia has seen massive power failures, which has been blamed its dependency on wind and solar power, which are susceptible to heatwaves and storm damages. (dps/NAN)
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======Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Morayo Omolade