| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 115267 | 2011-01-10 09:45:00 | Queensland Floods | KenESmith (6287) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1168592 | 2011-01-10 09:45:00 | I don't know how much publicity the current serious flooding in Queensland is receiving in New Zealand, but the prolonged period of extreme wild wet weather is turning a major part of Queensland into a disaster area: To give some perspective to the situation the area affected by floods is huge,over 905,000 sq Kilometers,of a State with land area of 1,722,000 sq km, ie 52.5% of the State of Queensland or some 12% of the total land area of Australia, the area flooded equates to 3.36 x the total land area of New Zealand. Under water are some of the most fertile and productive farm land in Australia, mines, industries and untold damage has been done to infrastructure, such as roading, railways, bridges, airfields and housing stock, over 200,000 people have been forced from their homes. Inland flooding in Queensland will flow on down into New South Wales through the Murray Cachment system carrying the woe to that State, and adding to the numbers of unfortunate souls who are or will be victims of this prolonged wild wet weather. Today the city of Toowoomba, some 120km SW of Brisbane suffered flash flooding the cost to date - there are two known fatalities, and millions of dollars in property damage. In the last hour there has been a warning broadcast to all people downstream of Gatton in the Lockyer Valley, a fertile farming area in SE Queensland, to immediately vacate their homes, and to urgently contact the Police and SES if they have problems in evacuating the area. www.theaustralian.com.au fn7il3q4-1225985202374 The SE has today suffered from 120 - 300 mm of heavy rain, in Toowoomba the flash flooding resulted from a rainfall of over 100mm per hour. The flood control dam at Wivenhoe on the upper reaches of Brisbane River is at 140% of capacity, and is each day having to spill twice the volume of Sydney Harbour, this is putting the City of Ipswich at risk, and could threaten some low lying areas in the Brisbane area. Australia will recover from this disasterous flooding but it will not be a quick recovery, it could take several years, and many elderly Australians may never recover from it in their remaining years. I can only give thanks that we live in a well elevated area some 20km South of the City of Brisbane, and for us the severe wet weather is at present more of an inconvenience than a hazard. Insurance Companies, being as far removed from charities as is possible will not cover flood damage in any area where there has been any prior history of flooding, policies have specific exclusion clauses, so a large number of the victims of flooding will get no payout from their insurance policies. The banks are operating collection for donations towards disaster relief for the victims, and should any of you wish to contribute to assisting these unfortunate people, I believe that both Westpac and the ANZ will accept donations. Australia has been a very generous nation in coming to the aid of less fortunate countries who have suffered major natural disasters, and I trust that with respect to the problems Australia is now facing there will now be reciprocation. |
KenESmith (6287) | ||
| 1168593 | 2011-01-10 10:15:00 | I don't know how much publicity the current serious flooding in Queensland is receiving in New Zealand, Queensland floods is getting quite a bit of publicity here in NZ. |
stu161204 (123) | ||
| 1168594 | 2011-01-10 12:13:00 | Today the city of Toowoomba, some 120km SW of Brisbane suffered flash flooding the cost to date - there are two known fatalities, Fatalities now number 7, with still some people unaccounted |
KenESmith (6287) | ||
| 1168595 | 2011-01-10 13:33:00 | It's getting coverage here in the UK. They are saying the land area is all of France and Germany combined. | wmoore (6009) | ||
| 1168596 | 2011-01-10 18:27:00 | Talk about Climatic Disruption. :eek: See Here (au.news.yahoo.com) That's what happens when you don't pay "Carbon Emission Tax" Ken. ;) Beautiful weather over here thanks to Hone Key and his "Carbon Tax". :D |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 1168597 | 2011-01-10 19:48:00 | NZ is nice this time of year. :pf1mobmini: |
Metla (12) | ||
| 1168598 | 2011-01-10 20:14:00 | Yeah, we humans have a habit of locating ourselves on flat land, fertile land, and near watercourses. Fine until they flood. Flat land is generally flat because of previous flooding. Fertile land is typically fertile thanks to previous flooding. And watercourses and their surrounding lands are the first bits to be overwhelmed in rapid fashion. Sometimes it's good to live up a hill. |
Paul.Cov (425) | ||
| 1168599 | 2011-01-10 20:38:00 | Yeah, we humans have a habit of locating ourselves on flat land, fertile land, and near watercourses. Fine until they flood. Flat land is generally flat because of previous flooding. Fertile land is typically fertile thanks to previous flooding. And watercourses and their surrounding lands are the first bits to be overwhelmed in rapid fashion. Sometimes it's good to live up a hill. Sometimes you do live up a hill and then suddenly find yourself living at the bottom of the hill after big rains... |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 1168600 | 2011-01-10 21:44:00 | The flash flooding casualties in the SE Queensland City of Toowoomba have just been upgraded to 8 confirmed dead and 72 missing. This flah flood came through the town like a small tsunami sweeping all before it, and was attributable to a rainfall of over 300mm falling in less than 3 hours. Today we expect to see flooding of low lying areas of Brisbane around 1440 local time (!740 NZ time) when runoff from the Wivenhoe spillway meets HW Spring Tide |
KenESmith (6287) | ||
| 1168601 | 2011-01-10 21:52:00 | Unfortunately, the history books are full of Natural Disasters from Floods, to Volcanic Eruptions, to Tsunamis, to Earthquakes, to Droughts, the list seems endless. But I must say I enjoy the Aussie attitude of, oh well, we’d better get on with fixing things. They even seem to be able to induce some humour and I cracked up at the clip of those three guys in a tin dingy trying to catch a fish in the main street. I guess they would enter folk lore if they actually managed to. :lol: |
B.M. (505) | ||
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | |||||