Now coastal Queensland braces for 30-foot flood waters

[Harry Hope]

Source: Reuters

Now coastal Queensland braces for 30-foot flood waters

Sat Jan 1, 2011

SYDNEY

(Reuters) -

Floods that have inundated 22 Australian towns and forced more than 200,000 from their homes headed toward the northeast coast on New Year's Day, forcing further evacuations and warnings of 30-ft flood waters.

Australia has endured its wettest spring on record, causing six river systems in tropical Queensland to flood, as soaring temperatures in the states of Victoria and South Australia sparked warnings of devastating bushfires.

The rain has flooded coal mines and hit farming hard, with many roads still impassable, and prompted warnings of the dangers of crocodiles and snakes in flooded homes.

The inland sea that stretches across Queensland is dotted with the roofs of flooded homes, islands of dry ground crowded with stranded livestock and small boats ferrying people and emergency supplies.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BU09620110101

[grahamhgreen]

1. This is not the evidence of global warming you were looking for. Please move along.

[valerief]

4. Yep. Also spring? What are they talking about? How can it be spring when it's winter?

Every Fox watcher knows that. Shoot, them Australians can't even tell spring from winter. How would they know about science and stuff? It's just god punishing them for homoseculars and as such.

:sarcasm:

[defendandprotect]

2. This certainly is evidence of Global Warming -- and I'd say it's way ahead of where anyone thought

we'd be at this point - except that scientists are continually saying they are

shocked at the rapid pace of Global Warming --

No one can say how this will compound -- every year is hotter than the previous

one -- more melting, more catastropic weather conditions, increasing intensity of

storms -- mroe earthquakes.

As the Pentagon told Bush early on -- Global Warming is a greater threat to US than

"terrorism."

And -- my sympathies to Australians trying to live thru this --

[greenman3610]

3. meanwhile, here in Michigan

sunny, breezy, snow's gone, ground's thawed.
Looks like March.
well, like March used to look.

[bertman]

5. meanwhile, here in North Carolina, we had FOUR snows in December.

I've lived here all my life and can't remember anything like that. Not to mention how freaking cold it was in early December.

The climate patterns are changing. Everyone I know who is involved in farming, livestock, wildlife conservation tells me that nothing is like it 'used to be'.

Rec.

[HillWilliam]

6. And not to mention the dryass summers

I remember regular thundershowers growing up. Last April after I planted my garden, the rains just stopped. We hardly got more than a couple of inches all the way through July. It was droughty all the way through October.

Now the goat-trail that passes for my driveway (I live **way** out in the sticks in Caswell County) is 98% impassible where the melting snow and rain has turned the red clay to slick mush. Not for the faint of heart.

On the other hand, it keeps the JW's and bicycling tract-wavers out.

[bertman]

7. Please explain "JW's and bicycling tract-wavers". Thanks

[PavePusher]

11. Probably 'Jehovah's Witnesses' and Morman missionaries. n/t

[bertman]

12. Got it.

:7

Thanks, PavePusher

[Joanne98]

8. Record floods swamp Australia's northeast

(Reuters) - Large parts of Australia's coastal northeast disappeared under floodwaters on Sunday in a spreading disaster that has brought some of the highest floods on record and forced thousands from their homes.

Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser described the floods as a "disaster of biblical proportions" and said the ultimate cost would exceed A$1 billion (1.02 billion).

As forecasters predicted months of more rain, hundreds of residents in the town of Rockhampton, 600 km (370 miles) north of the Queensland state capital Brisbane, fled homes amid rising waters which are expected to reach over 30 feet deep in coming days.

Local Mayor Brad Carter said the town was "like an island." Across the state, the floods have affected around 200,000 people and inundated thousands of properties.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BU09620110102

[Joanne98]

9. More rain coming.......

A severe thunderstorm threatening flash floods has been forecast for the already badly inundated Australian state of Queensland.

More than 20 towns have already been cut off or flooded across an area larger than France and Germany, with more than 200,000 people affected.

Meanwhile, a woman swept from the road in her car has become the first victim of the widespread flooding.

At least two other people have been reported missing.

In some areas waters are receding, but in Rockhampton - a city of 77,000 - they have yet to reach their peak.

Floodwaters could reach nine metres (30 feet) on Monday and peak at 9.4 metres on Wednesday, it says.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12105078

[FLPanhandle]

10. I guess Julia Gillard will be asking to rule by decree for the next 18 months now.

According to some here that would be okay.

[Violet_Crumble]

13. Huh? Are you talking about emergency powers?

The sort of stuff that's contained in the French constitution, and which has been used at various times by most democracies? What would be yr objection to emergency powers being used here for the flooding? I'm not really understanding yr post, seeing as how Queensland's already been declared a disaster zone and any decisions being made that are bypassing the normal legislative process would be made by the state govt, I would have assumed....

[FLPanhandle]

14. A reference to chavez who used the excuse of flooding to get decree powers

Some folks thought that was okay.

[Violet_Crumble]

15. Why wouldn't it be okay for emergency powers to be used in a disaster?

Why wouldn't you think it was okay to use them now? And what the hell has Chavez got to do with the QLD floods? Seriously, it's pretty sad when people are more interested in taking cheap and clumsy shots at Chavez rather than having any interest in the disaster happening here...