Dozens of Australian trucks, stopped by a flooded highway, are told to detour

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. Flooding on a highway stopped about 30 trucks in Australia. Stuart Highway connects the southern part of the country to the Northern Territories. And right now, part of it is a temporary swamp caused by heavy rains. Nobody expects it to dry up soon. The truck drivers' employers told them to detour, go the long way. But the trouble is, it's Australia, the country that's a continent. And the detour adds 1,800 miles to the trip. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.