Floods
S


Umbrella

Australia: Reptiles roam free as Queensland's flooding reaches highest levels yet, global seaborne coal market down 40 percent

Paula Richards
Irish Independent
Wed, 05 Jan 2011 06:57 UTC
Image
© UnknownAn aerial view of partially submerged houses in flooded Theodore in Australia' s state of Queensland
They have already been described as being of "Biblical proportions" but last night the Australian city of Rockhampton was bracing itself for even worse as flood waters were expected to reach their highest levels.

In the growing crisis military aircraft were rushing to get supplies to residents, to whom there is now only one land access route left.

Police were desperately urging people to stay out of the snake-infested waters, that have so far claimed the lives of three people.

More than 500 homes in the city have been evacuated but some residents are refusing to leave, Australian broadcaster ABC reported.

In other areas of Queensland, residents were beginning the recovery process, while others prepared for fresh floods.

The major highway through the city looks more like a major river. Were it not for the tops of road signs poking out it would be unrecognisable as one of Australia's main arterial routes.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

Death Toll in Philippine Landslides and Flooding Rises to 13


The Associated Press
Tue, 04 Jan 2011 04:03 UTC
The death toll from landslides and floods triggered by days of heavy rains in the Philippines has risen to 13 after rescuers found more bodies, officials said Tuesday.

Civil defense administrator Benito Ramos said nearly 13,000 people have sought shelter in schools and gymnasiums turned into evacuation centers in 12 provinces on the country's eastern seaboard.

The dead include six children, three of them dug from a wall of mud that buried their homes Sunday as they slept in the central Philippines' St. Bernard township. The town in Southern Leyte province had one of the country's worst disasters in 2006 when a mudslide buried the entire village of Guinsaugon, with more than 1,000 people killed.

President Benigno Aquino III ordered an investigation into why deaths again occurred in St. Bernard, a town known prone to landslides. He also ordered the quick evacuation of residents in areas susceptible to landslides and flood "to reduce the risk that these communities are facing."

Ramos said of the 13 dead, eight died of drowning while the rest were killed in landslides. One person missing in Southern Leyte, he added.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

More than 200,000 displaced by Australian Floods


MSNBC.com
Mon, 03 Jan 2011 20:00 UTC
The flood area in Eastern Australia is larger than the state of Texas.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Read More...
Eye 2

Australian floods: Residents facing plague of deadly snakes as waters rise

Bonnie Malkin
The Telegraph
Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:08 UTC
Image
© EPAAn aerial image showing properties hit by floodwaters in Emerald, Queensland
Australians whose homes have been inundated with floodwater in the state of Queensland are now facing the threat of deadly snakes as the reptiles move into dry buildings to avoid the rising waters.

Extra snakebite antivenom, including brown snake antivenom, has been airlifted into the city of Rockhampton, one of the worst-hit parts of the state.

Health officials have warned residents to be on the look out for dangerous snakes, spiders and even crocodiles that have been forced out of their natural habitats and onto higher ground by the natural disaster.

Barry Moessinger, who lives in a low-lying part of Rockhampton, said he had spotted about 15 snakes each day over the past week.

"There's heaps of them," he told the Australian newspaper.

"We had a plague of mice, a lot of frogs, so we knew the snakes would come."
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

Australia's Queensland faces 'biblical' flood


BBC News
Sun, 02 Jan 2011 07:58 UTC
Image
A senior official has described the flooding in Queensland, Australia, as a disaster of "biblical proportions".

State Treasurer Andrew Fraser said the economic impact would be severe, with huge costs compounded by lost income from mining, farming and tourism.

Rockhampton, where 77,000 people live, is the latest city bracing for impact, amid warnings of 30ft (9m) floodwaters.

More than 20 other towns have already been left cut off or flooded across an area larger than France and Germany.

The crisis has been triggered by Australia's wettest spring on record. At least six river systems across Queensland have broken their banks. The floods have affected about 200,000 people, and many have been evacuated.

"We're still directly battling floodwaters, we haven't seen the peak of the flood yet at centres like Rockhampton," said Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who toured the stricken areas.
Read More...
Bizarro Earth

"Biblical" Floods Threaten Australian Homes

Torsten Blackwood
Agence France-Presse
Sat, 31 Dec 2011 08:41 UTC
foods
© Agence France-PresseThe floods prompted a message of support from the Queen, who said she had been following the news "with great concern"
Flood waters swept through vast areas of northeastern Australia Saturday, threatening to inundate thousands more homes in a disaster one official said was of "biblical proportions".

As Queen Elizabeth II sent her "sincere sympathies" to Queenslanders who rang in a damp new year, helicopters were being used to deliver food and other supplies to isolated towns.

Up to 200,000 people have been affected by the floods, which have hurt the nation's lucrative mining industry and cut off major highways as the water rushes through sodden inland regions to the sea.

"In many ways, it is a disaster of biblical proportions," Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser told reporters in flood-hit Bundaberg.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who on Friday toured inundated regions, said the floods had been devastating and would clearly have an economic impact.

"We're still directly battling floodwaters -- we haven't seen the peak of the flood yet at centres like Rockhampton -- so the people of Queensland in many places are doing it tough today," she said.
Read More...
Umbrella

200,000 Displaced in Australia Floods

Torsten Blackwood
Agence France-Presse/Raw Story
Fri, 31 Dec 2010 19:08 UTC
flood, Emerald, Australia
© Philip Norrish/AFPA suburb in the Queensland town of Emerald in Australia taken over by flood water yesterday.
Australia started forced evacuations of a major town on Friday as floods that have already affected 200,000 people swamped more communities in the stricken northeast.

As Prime Minister Julia Gillard consoled evacuees, police moved the elderly and those in low-lying areas from Rockhampton, where 4,000 homes are at risk from floods paralysing an area the size of France and Germany combined.

"Police will order people in affected areas to leave their homes," Rockhampton mayor Brad Carter told AAP news agency.

Meanwhile military Blackhawk helicopters evacuated residents and dropped batches of food in Emerald, population 11,000, after 80 percent of the rural town was deluged by mucky waters.

Floods triggered by tropical cyclone Tasha have hit the farming and mining belt near Brisbane particularly hard, cutting road and rail links and crippling the region's all-important coal production.

As river levels continued to rise, some 22 towns were inundated or isolated, with sugar cane centre Bundaberg, known for its rum, divided in two by the floodwaters.

Shops, homes and businesses have been swamped by the murky tide, with cars submerged and caravan parks sitting metres (feet) deep, as residents take to boats and kayaks to negotiate the waters.
Read More...
Umbrella

Australians evacuate flood-hit Queensland towns


BBC
Wed, 29 Dec 2010 04:18 UTC
Image
© Reuters
Flooding in north-eastern Australia has forced residents to evacuate towns and closed down more than 300 roads.

In one town, Theodore, 300 residents are being flown out by a fleet of helicopters after floodwaters swamped buildings.

The floods have caused hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to sunflower and cotton crops.

The state government of Queensland has declared several areas disaster zones.

The state capital, Brisbane, has recorded its wettest December in more than 150 years. Cyclone Tasha, which hit Queensland on Saturday, also brought torrential rain to the state.
Read More...
Cloud Lightning

US: Damage from Southern California rains could top $60 million

S. Allen, R. J. Lopez and H. Blume
Los Angeles Times
Fri, 24 Dec 2010 13:51 UTC
Image
© Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times
Damage from the storms that battered Southern California is expected to top $60 million.

Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado declared a state of emergency Thursday for Los Angeles, Kings and Santa Barbara counties in response to the destructive rain, which caused some severe mudslides and flooding. States of emergency had already been declared in Kern, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and Tulare counties.

One of the hardest-hit areas was the foothill community of Highland in San Bernardino County. There, evacuations remained in place for 140 homes below an unstable 100-foot bluff. City officials said damage there was approaching $17 million alone.

At least 26 homes, most of them in another Highland neighborhood where a creek overflowed, sustained extensive damage. Floodwaters left behind 4 feet of mud and half-buried cars tipped up at odd angles. Dozens of homes and businesses were also damaged in Laguna Beach. Silverado Canyon and the surrounding area in Orange County were also hard hit.
Read More...
Cloud Precipitation

Strongest Storm Yet to Hit Southern California

Rong-Gong Lin II & Robert J. Lopez
Los Angeles Times
Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:50 UTC
The latest in a week of storms could bring thunder, hail, flooding, tidal surges and even waterspouts and small tornadoes. Some foothill evacuations are ordered.

Authorities and residents were bracing for flooding, thunderstorms, hail, tidal surges and even small tornadoes Wednesday as the worst of a seven-day series of storms was expected to sweep into Southern California.

Wednesday's storm was projected to be the most intense of the week, the result of a powerful, cold storm from the Gulf of Alaska colliding with a river of subtropical moisture from the western Pacific Ocean.

"When you get the very cold air mixing in with the very warm air, it can be quite volatile," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge. Forecasters said the system could produce lightning and possibly waterspouts offshore and small tornadoes on land.

Patzert said Wednesday is "definitely going to be the main event."

Rainfall rates were expected to be as high as 0.75 to 1.5 inches an hour, which could cause flooding not only in foothills and mountains but also in low-lying areas, said Stuart Seto, a specialist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

"The ground is already permeated. There's already a lot of moisture," he said. "With the thunderstorms, the rain rates come faster.... We're going to see a lot more runoff."
Read More...