Australia grinds to a halt after disruptive storm

Wild storms in Australia over the weekend disrupted everything from the internet to shipping, banking, and pummeling coastal towns and exposing insurance companies to hefty payouts.

Stocks in Australia biggest insurers, including QBE Insurance, Insurance Australia Group and Suncorp, were also affected as they became lower on the Australian Securities Exchange, with the wider market trading in positive territory.

A clean-up was underway on Monday after a low pressure system that brought flooding and strong winds combined with high tidal surges along much of the Australian east coast started to ease.

Australian websites including Channel Nine, Foxtel Play and Domino’s Pizza went down on Sunday when Amazon Web Service’s Sydney zone experienced a two-hour power outage, according to Australian website ITnews.