Part of Australia's Queensland hit by once-in-a-century floods, braces for more rain

[rooster59]

Part of Australia's Queensland hit by once-in-a-century floods, braces for more rain

By Will Ziebell

 

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Once-in-a-century flooding in part of the eastern Australian state of Queensland looks set to worsen as the nation's weather bureau on Saturday warned of more heavy rain in the area.

 

Some residents have already been evacuated after days of monsoon rains lashed the region around the coastal city of Townsville, in the north of the state, a spokesman for the Bureau of Meteorology said.

 

Adam Blazak, a forecaster with the bureau, did not say how many people had been evacuated, but added that some areas had reached "major" flood levels.

 

"Normally a monsoonal burst might last a few days, but this one's been going on over a week now and is set to continue for a few more days as well," he said.

 

Between 150 mm and 200 mm of rain is expected across Townsville on Saturday - equal to about a month's average rainfall.

 

Local authorities issued a number of flood warnings on Saturday morning and told residents to avoid using roads and consider moving to higher ground if conditions worsen.

 

North Queensland has significant zinc reserves as well as major deposits of silver, lead, copper and iron ore, with Townsville being a major processing center for the region's base metals.

 

In stark contrast, wildfires in the southern island state of Tasmania have burned through more than 187,000 hectares of land, fire officials said.

 

The Tasmanian Fire Service said in a statement on Friday that nearly 600 personnel were working to contain the fires, some of which have been burning for weeks and have destroyed homes.

 

The statement added that while the last few days have seen favorable conditions for battling the blazes, expected hot and dry weather on Sunday could see bushfires escalate again.

 

"A number of fires are still volatile and dangerous and fire behavior can change with little warning," Jeff Harper, the state's Fire Controller, said on Friday.

 

Australia endured its hottest month on record in January, with sweltering conditions expected to persist through April.

That scorching weather triggered power outages in some areas and sent electricity prices soaring.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-02

[Chassa]

A good wet season in Townsville.

[Odysseus123]

23 minutes ago, Chassa said:

A good wet season in Townsville.

Agreed.

 

Hopefully  it moves further south and pecolates into the western rivers system of southern Queensland  and north-west  NSW.

 

 

[car720]

everybody is leaving town after that big croc walked up the Bruce Hwy.  

[digger70]

5 hours ago, Chassa said:

A good wet season in Townsville.

Yea I've seen some good floods and been in a couple cyclones in and around  Innisfail , Got wiped out 100% on the banana farm just behind the Ex Mourilyan  sugar mill across the south Johnstone river scared the shit out of me.  ????

[Prissana Pescud]

Yerse. I remember another part of Queensland was hit by floods in a once in a century floods.

Then was hit the next year again. Of course much of the problem in those rains were due to property a-Holes

selling land for cheap in potential flood plains.

Since 1990 climate change scientists have warned of increased overall temperature.

The stats back this up.

They have warned of more extreme variances in weather patterns.

The stats back them up.

An extreme weather event is now in the norther countries, especially the east and mid west of US.

An extreme weather event is occurring in Tasmania Australia. It is summer and up to 40 raging unprecedented wild fires are burning now.

In an area that hardly any wildfires occurred before 2000.

If any one with half a brain cannot see the trend, if the politicians stay in complete denial, if the general populace decides to stay quiet,

well the answer may well be doom for your children.

But Christians can rejoice. The end of the world and the return of christ depends on global warming as prophesied in the weird book of Revelations.

[VincentRJ]

7 hours ago, Prissana Pescud said:

An extreme weather event is occurring in Tasmania Australia. It is summer and up to 40 raging unprecedented wild fires are burning now. In an area that hardly any wildfires occurred before 2000.

Really! You should check out the history of bushfires in Tasmania
The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania in 1642, which was then named Van Diemen's Land. When the British later arrived, their initial impression was that the climate was ideal, similar to that in England. They referred to the island as the 'Antipodean England'. They saw green pastures and rolling hills as a result of the Aboriginal practices of regular burn-off to clear land and provide grazing pastures for the kangaroos.

 

Subsequent governments have been promoting the island to encourage settlement by claiming that Tasmania's climate is largely devoid of the excesses of drought, heat, floods and bushfires of mainland Australia. This view is inaccurate and part of the problem. Downplaying the potential risks posed by climatic variability contributes to a state of unpreparedness within the government and the wider population. This 'unpreparedness' will continue as a result of shifting the blame to CO2 emissions.

 

The following article provides some factual information on previous bushfires in Tasmania.
http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/B/Bushfires.htm

 

To quote: "Tasmania has faced a series of devastating fires from early settlement in 1803. The new settlers were not used to the summer conditions which caused fire to spread quickly.
The worst were in 1854, 1897–98, 1913–15, 1926–27, 1933–34, 1940–42, 1960–61 and 1967. "

 

The following Ph.D thesis gives a more detailed account. Very interesting reading for those who have more than half a brain. ????
https://eprints.utas.edu.au/12935/1/Evans_thesis.pdf

 

‘Antipodean England’? A History of Drought, Fire and Flood in Tasmania from European Settlement in 1803 to the 1960s."
 

[Prissana Pescud]

"The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman Was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania in 1642 which was then called Van Diemans land"

You are full of it

[VincentRJ]

7 hours ago, Prissana Pescud said:

"The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman Was the first European to land on the shores of Tasmania in 1642 which was then called Van Diemans land"

You are full of it

Try to be more clear and precise. Are you disputing that the first Europeans to arrive in Tasmania were the Dutch in the 17th century? If so, provide your evidence instead of just a rude implication, of the nature of an ad hominem attack.

 

From the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Tasman

 

"Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand, and to sight the Fiji islands. 
 

On 24 November 1642 Abel Tasman reached and sighted the west coast of Tasmania, north of Macquarie Harbour. He named his discovery Van Diemen's Land after Antonio van Diemen, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies." 

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 6:53 AM, Prissana Pescud said:

property a-Holes

selling land for cheap in potential flood plains.

They've been building on flood plains in the UK for ages, and surprise surprise the houses get flooded.

It's all part of overpopulation, as people build in unsuitable places due to too many people looking to have somewhere to live.

On ‎2‎/‎3‎/‎2019 at 6:53 AM, Prissana Pescud said:

But Christians can rejoice. The end of the world and the return of christ depends on global warming as prophesied in the weird book of Revelations.

??????? Revelations says nothing about "the end of the world", just the end of the established order by the antichrist and a big battle supposed to be in the Middle East. After a lot of suffering, Christ returns and rules, presumably till the sun consumes the planet, when it does actually end.

However, I must have missed the bit about G W in Revelations, though it's all so vague anything can be read into it.