Queensland floods

[Graeme]

My best wishes to all the GA Queensland members, and also to all the people of Queensland.

 

75% of the state of Queensland is currently a declared disaster zone, mainly from massive flooding. To put that into perspective, that's an area bigger than the combined states of Texas and California. Or, if you like, a size around about 15% the size of the USA....

 

The confirmed death toll is currently still low (nine, including some children), but there are around 66 people still unaccounted for after what was described as an inland tsunami went through the city centre of Toowoomba. The death toll is expected to rise.

 

Australia has received offers of help from around the world, including New Zealand, China, USA, the European Union, Indonesia and East Timor. Our Prime Minister has publicly thanks all those who have offered help, but I'd like to add my own thanks.

 

It's just under two years since the Black Saturday bushfires went through the area where I live. I still remember that there were floods in Queensland at that time, too, and that some of the Queenslanders who had received financial help after those floods had immediately turned around and donated that money to the Victorian bushfire appeal. I haven't forgotten and I believe I never will Now it's my turn

[Bumblebee]

My mums side of the family, and family friends all live in Ipswich, Toowoomba, Gatton and Rockhampton area.

Luckily they all moved onto hills after the 1974 floods, so they haven’t been too badly affected except for the people in Toowoomba and it’s only the storm water drains that are flooding their area in Ipswich.

 

But because the Wivenhoe dam can only hold (I’ve been told that it’s just over 200%) of water, and is (I’ve been told that it’s just below 190%) the dam might burst if they can’t let out enough water to cope with the amount of rain.

Ipswich would be wiped out, and the residents are currently stranded because the bridges that were built from the 1974 flood figures are underwater.

The Bremer River is also thought to overflow some time tommorow, is only down the road from my grandparents house.

 

Thanks for the well wishes, and I’ll pass them on to my family next time I speak to them

 

 

[paya]

This is sooo unimaginable for me. In Europe they compare the flooded area to France and Germany together - I can't imagine that much of landmass under water. What is more confusing, I always imagined Queensland as a dry state with only a narrow strip by the coast where the rain-forest and mountains are. How come such floods were possible? This looks so terrible. I hope that the renovation after this disaster abates will be fast and successful.

[Bumblebee]

South- East Queensland has had a drought for 10 years luckly, because If the dams hadn't been so low the could have burst days ago.

 

Lots of the towns are built in the valleys between the mountains, so all these towns are being wiped out because they sit in those valleys. Plus towns like Ipswich is built on many large hills and small valleys at the bottom.

Plus the amount of rain thats falling per hour is over 100mils when it gets heavy, so alot of the flooding from the higher up towns is because the storm water drains can't cope with the amount of rain fall.

 

 

 

EDIT: Yea i meant that 100mils is 100mm or 4 inches.. I've always say mils not mm

Edited January 12, 2011 by Bumblebee

[Sendraguy]

I know this is going to sound naive, but when will the governments of the world realise that something's going on here. And while scientists and politicians sit around arguing about whether climate change really exists, each and every one of us is shaking his head and thinking, either these disasters have always happened with the same ferocity and frequency but never got recorded, or, no they bloody didn't! I subscribe to the latter! My heart goes out to all the folk of Queensland, they're resourceful people and will overcome the disaster, but sooner or later there is going to have to be a global response and an agency to handle horrors like this in the future.

[Red_A]

first a point of clarification on Bumble Bee post. I believe Bumble bee refers to 100mm or 4 inches when reffering to 100mils not 100 thousands of an inch (UK/USA engineering usage)

 

It would appear that this year is a El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation cold year (LA Nina). The result is that cold water from south america mixing with the warm water around the east Queensland Coast is causing a very unstable moist warm cold air mixture to be blow over the Queensland coast. The results are numerous storm clouds which provide local downpours of 4 to 10 inches per hour which can last hours. As mentioned by BumbleBee these results in local flooding where the local ground does not absorb the water and big problems near rivers or normally dry rivers.

The mountains do catch most of the storm rain, but a significant portion gets over the mountains.

It has been proposed that this year is particular bad because the La Nina current is further south than normal? La Nina years, this is to be confirmed by events.

As to the near future, The La Nina water may move further north in which cause the rain storms will disappear or if it stays where it is, sudden violent local rain storms will continue for the next two months until the end of the season.

As ever this is very simple explanation of a very complex subject.

[ketiba]

ive heard about this news about a couple hours ago. this is so heartbreaking to see those people struggling

All my condeleances to the family/friends of the members here who live there (or not).

[soup]

The death toll is currently at 12 people and the number of people missing has dropped from 80ish (yesterday) to 43 as of now.

 

Here's actual footage of the flash floods in Toowoomba. You can clearly see the rapid rise of the flood water as well as several parked cars floating away and it's nothing compared to some areas like Ipswich where around 1000 houses are almost completely submerged and many more damaged.

 

I hope the rain stops soon and everyone is safe up there.

[Jack Scribe]

The pictures of this tragedy are overwhelming (and that's saying something coming from a California resident. Here's a Queenslands government site if you have a few dollars to donate: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html They have a secure link for a credit card transaction. Let's give our friends 'down under' a hand.

[Raijen]

I've heard bits and pieces about the flooding in Queensland, but as usual the media circus in the US has covered it up quickly with images of cross-eyed possums and Sarah Palin's face.

 

I hope that things get patched up soon, and that the death toll stops where it is. It's scary crazy that something that big could happen so quickly, and it's gotta be traumatic for the people involved.

[PlugInMatty]

if you only read one news story about the Qld floods, please read this one.

 

RIP Jordan Rice.

[Graeme]

if you only read one news story about the Qld floods, please read this one.

 

RIP Jordan Rice.

Yeah, that one hit me pretty hard

[ketiba]

ah yeah! ive read about him. poor boy may he rest in peace

 

 

[John Doe]

gah I watching the footages on the news channels (websites our national teles are focused elsewhere States here)... it's heartbreaking...

[Jack Frost]

A question that the newspapers here never seen to address...

 

How the hell Australia could get that much rain?! It's a mostly semi-dry country you know... :?

 

EDIT: Never mind... o,o

 

This is a pretty shitty time for people over there and a hard lesson that "it doesn't happen at my house" mentality for them supposedly. :S

Edited January 14, 2011 by Jack Frost

[Palantir]

It's evidently a combination of factors Jack.

There's a weather phenomenon called 'La Nina' which turns up in an irregular cycle - usually with a 3 or four year time frame- and it brings moisture laden air from the Pacific Ocean over the Northern sections of Australia.

This year there was some sort of extra interaction with the normal monsoons of the tropics and the air was carried further inland and further south than usual. (with a vengeance - we've had floods here today in Victoria, right in the south of the continent.)

As well, the water temperature in the ocean is approx half a degree Celsius warmer. I'm not sure of the time frame for that rise but a small increase in temperature causes a big increase in the amount of evaporation.

All that compounded to bring the astonishing, tragic, and devastating results.

[Jack Frost]

Mainly because my idea how the winds flow around would be generally over the continent, drying up, and getting some rain once they hit the east coast (not always a lot of moisture to reach the coastal lands past the Great Dividing Range before going over the ocean).

 

Then I looked on the wind map that east-to-west winds do go over northern Queensland and the Northern Territory, unlike the rest of the country as they get east-to-west winds.

 

So I just got the weather patterns all mixed up a bit. I did know about the monsoons and tropical weather do exist in Australia, but I always though they're limited to the extreme ends of Queensland and the Northern Territory only (like Darwin and Cape York Peninsula). That's why I'm surprised that southern parts of the state could be hit with so much water.

 

Oh winds are what steer the storms as it would be almost impossible for storms to go east-to-west against the west-to-east winds and vice versa.

Edited January 14, 2011 by Jack Frost

[hh5]

Oh winds are what steer the storms as it would be almost impossible for storms to go east-to-west against the west-to-east winds and vice versa.

 

I dunno the wind pattens are different than the usa

 

[Jack Frost]

I was talking about westerly winds, which always goes at the same direction for mid-northern and mid-southern hemispheres: west-to-east. Northern Queensland and the Northern Territory usually have trade winds, which go east-to-west due to their close location to the equator.

[thephoenix]

if you only read one news story about the Qld floods, please read this one.

 

RIP Jordan Rice.

 

I read about that too...

 

so very sad...

 

Rest in peace, hero.