RECORD FLOODING IN AUSTRALIA:

DECEMBER 10 – JANUARY ?, 2011

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

GREAT QUEENSLAND FLOOD INUNDATES 22 TOWNS,

DISPLACES 200,000, KILLS 20 +, AND CAUSES LOSSES OF

OVER $5 BILLION IN AUSTRALIA

75 PERCENT OF QUEENSLAND STATE

DECLARED A DISASTER ZONE

RECORD FLOODING IN AUSTRALIA:

NEW SOUTH WALESROCKHAMPTONTOOWOOMBA

BRISBANE

DECEMBER 10 – JANUARY ?, 2011

LOCATION MAP

QUEENSLAND: WIDESPREAD IMPACTS

• Socioeconomic impacts for 200 thousand people included: industrial slow-down, evacuations, a plague of snakes and crocodiles, health care problems, missing persons, deaths, and losses of 5+ Billion.

WORST FLOODING IN A DECADE REACHES CITY

AFTER CITY Floodwaters drained slowly towards the country's northeast coast, filling bulging rivers and inundating at least 22 towns and cities in the cattle and fruit and vegetable farming region.

THE FIRST PHASE OF RECORD FLOODING BEGAN

IN DECEMBER

DECEMBER 10, 2010

DECEMBER STORMS BROUGHT HEAVY RAINFALL: DEC. 17, 2010

NEW SOUTH WALES: 45 FLOOD DISASTER ZONES

INUNDATED ROADWAYS SHUT DOWN TRUCKS

TOWN OF THEODORE: FLOODED

THEODORE’S HOUSES INUNDATED

TOWN OF BUNDABERG INUNDATED

TOWN OF BUNDABERG INUNDATED

TOWN OF BUNDABERG: INTERIOR DAMAGE

EVACUEES IMPACTED

• The time evacuees spent in evacuation centers was extended because the nature and extent of flooding grew worse—not better—over time.

THE SECOND PHASE OF FLOODING HAPPENED IN

JANUARY

AN AREA OF FLOODING THE SIZE OF FRANCE AND GERMANY (OR, TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO) COMBINED WAS

CREATED IN QUEENSLAND

ROCKHAMPTON HIT HARD

• Rockhampton, a town of 77,000 people 370 miles north of Brisbane, lies close to the coast, on the Fitzroy, one of Australia's largest river systems.

ROCKHAMPTON BECAME AN ISLAND:JANUARY 3, 2011

ROCKHAMPTON HIT HARD

• All main routes to the south, north and west of the city were cut off by the rising water, rail lines and the airport runways were submerged, and floodwaters stretched for several miles in each direction.

INUNDATED AIRPORT RUNWAYS: JANUARY 3, 2011

FLEEING WITH POSSESSIONS: JANUARY 3, 2011

FITZROY RIVER STILL RISING: JANUARY 3, 2011

TRADITIONAL SANDBAGGING HAD LIMITED VALUE

FITZROY RIVER PEAKED AT 9.2 M: JANUARY 6, 2011

W ILDLIFE AFFECTED

• The local wildlife was caught off-guard by the flooding; bewildered and hungry kangaroos moved to high ground, and cattle were left lost and confused by the excessive water that inundated everything.

COAL MINING INFRASTRUCTURE AFFECTED

• Australia's coal industry may face months of disruption because key rail and road links were washed away during the flooding, and repairs of some infrastructure may take more than a year to complete.

FLOOD WATERS CRIPPLE COAL INDUSTRY: JAN 7, 2011

THE THIRD PHASE OF FLOODING WAS TRIGGERED

BY A FLASH FLOOD

JANUARY 11, 2011

FLASH FLOOD IN FLASH FLOOD IN TOOWOOMBATOOWOOMBA

• The flash flood, which brought a one kilometer wide wall of water into Toowoomba, was triggered by a freak storm — with up to 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain in half an hour.

FLASH FLOOD BRINGS WALL OF WATER: TOOMOOMBA: JAN 11, 2011

IMPACTS

• Cars were transformed into “boats” and became scrap metal as they collided with infrastructure; giant metal industrial bins were tossed about as if made of paper; and houses were torn off foundations.

FLASH FLOOD:TOOWOOMBA, JAN 7, 2011

THE FOURTH PHASE OF FLOODING BEGINS IN

BRISBANE

JANUARY 11 AND FOLLOWING

BRISBANE RIVER: JAN 8, 2011

BRISBANE PREPARING FOR FLOODING: JAN 8, 2011

BRISBANE

• The city is protected by a large dam built upstream after floods devastated the downtown in 1974, but the reservoir was full, so officials had no choice but to release water, which caused flooding before the “FLOOD”.

BRISBANE

• MORE than 50 suburbs were flooded as the Brisbane River rose to 4.5 m or more above flood stage, with some areas being completely inundated.

BRISBANE: BEFORE FLOODING

BRISBANE: AFTER FLOODING

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: ADMIRALTY TOWERS; JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE FLOODING: JAN 11, 2011

BRISBANE RIVER CRESTED AT 4.46 M: JAN 12, 2011

EMERGENCY SERVICES

• . • A difficult situation was made

even more so by thunderstorms, high winds, raging rivers, and driving rain that made it very hard for helicopters and boats to reach and rescue flood victims.

URGENT NEEDS EMERGING

• . • The Lockyer Valley Council, west

of Brisbane, says its town water supply has failed and only hours of reserves remain for some towns.

• .

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