Climate and securityAussie flood zone covers area bigger than France and Germany combined
More than 200,000 people have been affected by relentless flooding in northeast Australia, with the flood zone now stretching over an area bigger than France and Germany combined; Heavy rains and flooding in northeast Australia is common during the southern hemisphere summer, but the scope of the damage from the recent downpours is extremely unusual
A small part of the flooding in New South Wales // Source: newsmild.com
Last week we noted that:
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides, and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters in 2010 than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past forty years combined. Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes “are pretty much constant,” said Andreas Schraft, vice president for catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. “All the change that’s made is man-made” (“2010’s world weather extremes: quakes, floods, blizzards,” 21 December 2010 HSNW)
News from Australia fit the 2010 pattern of the growing severity of natural disasters, as more than 200,000 people have been affected by relentless flooding in northeast Australia, with the flood zone now stretching over an area bigger than France and Germany combined, officials said earlier today (Friday).
Thousands of homes and businesses across Queensland state have been inundated with water after days of pounding rain caused swollen rivers to overflow. The entire population of two towns was forced to evacuate as water swamped their communities, cutting off roads and devastating crops.
Heavy rains and flooding in northeast Australia is common during the southern hemisphere summer, but the scope of the damage from the recent downpours is extremely unusual, Queensland state Premier Anna Bligh said.
“This is without a doubt a tragedy on an unprecedented scale,” Bligh told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “We now have 22 towns or cities that are either substantially flooded or isolated because the roads have been cut off to them. That represents some 200,000 people spanning an area that’s bigger than the size of France and Germany combined.”
Fox News reports that thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes this week. In the central Queensland town of Emerald, around 1,000 people were evacuated in the last 24 hours.
The town was facing the prospect of food shortages, power outages and sewage-contaminated floodwaters, county mayor Peter Maguire said. Three evacuation centers have been set up to help displaced residents.
Weather across most of the state was drier on Friday, but river levels were still rising in some areas as high waters worked their way toward the ocean. Bligh warned that drenched communities could be stuck under water for more than a week, and clean up efforts were expected to cost billions of dollars.
Queensland launched a disaster relief fund for flood victims with $1 million in state money. Prime Minister Julia Gillard pledged to match that amount with federal funds.
Gillard was touring flooded communities on Friday.
