Could an October Surprise Shift the Deadlocked Trump-Harris Race?

[rooster59]

Two dead, tens of thousands stranded by Australia floods

 

Local residents wade through floodwaters near their homes in the northern New South Wales town of Lismore, Australia, March 31, 2017 after heavy rains associated with Cyclone Debbie swelled rivers to record heights across the region. AAP/Dave Hunt/via REUTERS

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Australians were stranded by floodwaters on Saturday after the remnants of a powerful cyclone swept along the country's east coast, cutting roads, destroying bridges and killing two people.

 

The disaster zone from ex-Cyclone Debbie stretched 1,000 km (600 miles) from Queensland state's tropical resort islands and Gold Coast tourist strip to the farmlands of New South Wales state, with more than 100,00 homes without power.

 

Six large rivers had hit major flood levels and were still rising in several areas, said the Bureau of Meteorology.

 

Flood sirens sounded in several towns, prompting stranded residents to climb onto roofs of flooded homes to await rescue, but fast-moving water and high winds hindered emergency crews reaching several areas.

 

Police said they recovered the bodies of two women from floodwaters late on Friday, the first reported deaths since Cyclone Debbie hit on Tuesday.

 

One was found on a swamped property and the other retrieved by police divers from a car that had been swept off a flooded bridge.

 

Authorities fear more people may have died overnight as floodwaters continued to rise.

 

Cyclone Debbie, a category four storm, one short of the most powerful level five, pounded Queensland state on Tuesday, smashing tourist resorts, bringing down power lines and shutting down coal mines.

 

Debbie will hit Australia's A$1.7 trillion ($1.3 trillion) economy, with economists estimating it will slow growth to under 2 percent in the first quarter. [L3N1H82GN]

 

In the Bowen Basin, the world's single largest source of coal used in steel-making, Glencore <GLEN.L> said its mines were not damaged by the storm but restarting production depended on railways reopening.

 

Three of rail operator Aurizon's <AZJ.AX> four railway lines in the region were closed and BHP <BHP.AX>, <BLT.L> was assessing the extent of disruption to shipments.

 

Queensland's top insurers, Suncorp Group Ltd <SUN.AX> and RACQ, said it was too early to put a dollar figure on the damage.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-01

[elgordo38]

Why is it in these terrible disasters the economists must always throw in their 2 cents worth. 

[Thechook]

And the federal government chips in a lousy 1 million in aid whilst at the same time giving 30 million in aid to Indonesia 

[IMA_FARANG]

Saw a report on the international news from Japan about this.

The result of the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie in Queensland if I recall correctly.

 

 

[simple1]

4 hours ago, Thechook said:

And the federal government chips in a lousy 1 million in aid whilst at the same time giving 30 million in aid to Indonesia 

Highly likely Fed & State government aid will end up being in the tens of millions, possibly a lot more. I recall in the QLD floods of 2011 the area I lived in had about 100 properties damaged, yet the local Centrelink office for handing out federal aid payments had to put on ten extra staff to process the hundreds of claimants.

 

2016 / 2017 foreign aid budget represents 0.22 percent of Australian National Expenditure, with more than a few bucks spent with Australian companies / personnel. 

[Prbkk]

And stil the deniers would claim that these events are unrelated to warming. Sydney has had hundreds of millimetres of rain in 10 days ( more than a month of of heaviest of normal Bangkok wet season months); Melbourne will be over 30 for several days next week, well into Autumn and the football season. 

[Damrongsak]

A welder/fabricator on a forum I frequent had 4-5 feet of water in his shop. All his welders, tools, forklift, etc. under water for a couple days.  He had put some stuff up on benches, but not high enough.  Sickening loss.

[anon4546543]

2 hours ago, Prbkk said:

And stil the deniers would claim that these events are unrelated to warming. Sydney has had hundreds of millimetres of rain in 10 days ( more than a month of of heaviest of normal Bangkok wet season months); Melbourne will be over 30 for several days next week, well into Autumn and the football season. 

I find it hard to fault you on mankind caused global warming issues. But this year Aus has had fewer cyclones overall than the general average. And it is an el nino year and higher temperatures are expected. Peru on the other end of el nino has had a wet year as is expected. It is tempting to blame el nino as a warming event but it is difficult to substanciate. It is the overall global temperature rise that is caused by global warming. Whether this impacts on natural causes is yet to be proven factual.