Were there any floods in Australia?

Answer 1

Currently (January 2011), Queensland is suffering from massive floods across much of the state. Some 22 towns and a couple of cities have been fully or partially evacuated. Some of the water is heading for the coast; some of it is replenishing the Darling River which, in turn, will flush out the Murray River to the south.

The city of Rockhampton has been particularly badly affected. Other Queensland towns significantly affected include Emerald, Dalby, Chinchilla, Condamine, St George, Theodore, Bundaberg, Mundubbera and Warwick. Toowoomba experienced a devastating flash flood which then travelled down the range, hitting the towns of Grantham, Helidon, Murphy's Creek and Gatton. Many deaths were recorded in this area. The floodwaters then continued on to the Wivenhoe Dam which, due to being over capacity, resulted in flooding of the Brisbane River, which affected the cities of Ipswich and Brisbane.

In western New South Wales, Bourke has been badly affected, and more towns will be affected as the floods move south. In northeastern NSW, Grafton and centres in the Northern Rivers area are being hardest hit.

Answer 2

75% of the entire state of Queensland has been affected by floods in some way. This includes from Rockhamptonl where floodwaters have remained for about three weeks. Centres west to Emerald and south west to St George have been affected as well. In January 2011, the city of Brisbane has been inundated with the rising of the Brisbane River.

In addition, the floodwaters have moved south, together with heavy rain, which has swamped parts of northern and western New South Wales, and northern and western Victoria. Even parts of South Australia have been affected.

Answer 3

There have been many floods in Australia, and it is one of the most common natural disasters in the country.

Australia is a very flat country. Running down the eastern coast is the Great Dividing Range, so there are the usual coastal plains there. To the west of the range are vast expanses of flat country, and when there is a lot of rainfall (which happens sometimes several times a year, and sometimes only every few years), the rivers quickly swell and break their banks, sending massive floods across these great plains.

Australia spends many years in drought, often caused by the El Niño effect. When an El Niño occurs, changes in sea surface temperatures cause a shift in air pressure which, in turn, can result in climatic anomalies, such as severe droughts in Australia. These years are punctuated by years of normal rainfall, but occasionally, Australia gets the opposite to an El Niño, which is La Niña. This means that weather conditions, etc, are in reverse to those seen during El Niño, and Australia experiences far more rain than usual. When this happens, many parts of Australia will see gradually increasing rainfall over the period of several months. The ground becomes too saturated to hold any more water. This often occurs during the spring and summer season, which is also cyclone season. Add to the already super-saturated ground the effects of a cyclone which becomes a rain depression once it crossed the coast, and the scenario is one of excessive rainfall leading to the ground becoming waterlogged. (This was the pattern that led to both the Brisbane floods of 1974 and 2011).