Sunshine Coast girl fights for life after lightning strike | ABC News

In This Story: Australia

Australia, officially known as the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world’s sixth-largest country by total area.

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In This Story: Brisbane

Brisbane, capital of Queensland, Australia, is a large city on the Brisbane River. Population: 2.28 million (2016).

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In This Story: Cyclone

In meteorology, a cyclone is a large scale air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure. Cyclones are characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate about a zone of low pressure and typically bring winds, rain, high waves and storm surges to the areas they pass.

In the Atlantic and the northeastern Pacific oceans, a tropical cyclone is generally referred to as a hurricane (from the name of the ancient Central American deity of wind, Huracan), in the Indian and south Pacific oceans it is called a cyclone, and in the northwestern Pacific it is called a typhoon.

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In This Story: Lightning

Lightning is a giant spark of electricity in the atmosphere between clouds, the air, or the ground. Lightning can occur between opposite charges within the thunderstorm cloud (intra-cloud lightning) or between opposite charges in the cloud and on the ground (cloud-to-ground lightning). (Source: NSSL)

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In This Story: Queensland

Queensland (QLD) is an Australian state covering the continent’s northeast, with a coastline stretching nearly 7,000km. Its offshore Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral reef system, hosts thousands of marine species. The city of Cairns is a gateway to the reef and tropical Daintree Rainforest. The capital, Brisbane, is flanked by the surfing beaches of the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

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