Thread: IT'S RAINING AGAIN

Bundalene, raining AGAIN is not appropriate. It has been raining here, Brisbane, for three months. Wettest spring for 60 years and the first time since record keeping commenced that there was not one day over 30 degrees in SEQ.

Central Q. is under water. Western and the north have been up to their bums in mud and water since early last year. Pretty much flood warnings for every western watercourse. Bit of a change after nearly 10 years drought.

The western and gulf floods last year caused more damage and economic loss than the Victorian fires but did not get the publicity because the floods were not near the xenophobic southern media. You know what that means. It did not happen in Sydney or Melbourne therefore it did not happen.

yea, its a little damp up here in CQ, one creek is up and running 6km wide between here and where i work....

and to think...... on thursday i'd been grumbling that it'd be another 3-4 months before i got time off work due to my offsider resigning!

Finally making the news over here...

More rain forecast for flooded NSW Last updated 07:48 06/12/2010

LATEST: New South Wales is bracing for more storms, worsening flooding which already stretches from Victoria to Queensland.
The storms, forecast for Wednesday, will drop up to 100 millimetres of rain over areas that are already inundated.
The rain could see flooding extend to half of the state.
''When you see a map that says all these valleys are in flood - and I'm looking at one now - normally everything is brown,'' Hugh Bruist, a senior hydrologist at Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, said yesterday.
''But what we're looking at - 50 per cent of the state is in flood. Much of the state is wet and any further rain will run off the ground rather than being absorbed into the ground.''
The state's Minister for Emergency Services, Steve Whan, was to announce A$1 million (NZ$1.3m) today for the removal of trees and other debris after the floods in south-western NSW in October.
He will make the announcement while visiting the same disaster areas with the Australian Attorney-General, Robert McClelland.
Flood gates are open outside Tumut and Bathurst. The army has been deployed in Wagga Wagga, where the homes of three families who refused to leave are expected to be flooded this afternoon.
The levee at Coonamble is threatening to burst under the weight of flood waters, after 1200 residents were ordered to leave.
Flood warnings have been issued for 12 rivers.
Natural disasters have been declared in the Dubbo, Weddin, Wellington, Warrumbungle, Harden, Cootamundra, Coonamble, Gundagai, Cabonne and Young shires.

Hundreds flee floods in NSW

There were comments earlier that this year the floods would rival 1974, and there have been plenty of references of 'worse flood since 1974' given that most of those floods were caused by cyclones that crossed into central Qld (and there hasn't been a cyclone yet this season) it'll be interesting to see what develops.

Martyn

It is long time since I left Sydney so I do not know if the area near the Nepean/ Hawkesbury rivers where used to be under water is farm land or suburbia.

If the local councils allowed to build there it will be a disaster of major implications if the gates of the dam have to be open like in the 70's

After 15 years of drought and now the inevitable floods one thing is sure. People (especially politicians) have short memories. We forget the drought quickly, and the floods, and the bushfires. And when they come again, as they do and will, we will reflect on the last ones and wonder again. "Why didn't we learn from the last one and do something about it?" And then all the bright ideas will start flowing again, (as they have for 200 years). Bigger dams, diverting the water from the north to the south, pipe lines, levee banks, fuel reduction, town shelters.. blah blah blah. The only other thing that is sure is nothing of any real value will get done. One of the problems of four years terms for politics and 20 years cycles for weather patterns and disasters....need a beer now.

How much of the NSW flood water will end up in the Murray and flow to the sea thus greatly improving the health of the system?

Difficult to do anything about major floods. When you have thousands and thousands of square miles under water there is absolutely no way of containing these waters to a water course. Simply too much water to handle. The flooding in Qld's cnannel country is nature's way of rejuvenating the countryside and the graziers regard the big channel floods as money in the bank.

Much of the suffering and property damage from The Vic. fires came as a result of building homes and townships nestled in the bush. Clear felling for a substantial distance around would help greatly in limiting losses. It would appear fuel reduction had not been practiced for a long while, if ever. This should be done annually.

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Much of the suffering and property damage from The Vic. fires came as a result of building homes and townships nestled in the bush. Clear felling for a substantial distance around would help greatly in limiting losses. It would appear fuel reduction had not been practiced for a long while, if ever. This should be done annually.

While I agree that more clearing & fuel reduction is well warranted in these areas, there were substansial losses of property that were in clear areas. Ember attack to properties well clear of the main fire front accounted for a lot of losses. While King Lake & Marysville have plenty of trees, they are no different to hundreds of towns throughout Australia, and under the same conditions in other places, they would have suffered the same fate.

People live in the bush for that reason - if all the trees were cleared, it would no longer be the bush... but if you want to live in these areas, you need to be aware of the potential hazards.

Cheers - Gav.