What major natural disasters that have happened in Victoria?

Answer 1

Victoria is subject mostly to drought, extreme heat, fire and dust storms. These include: * 13 January 1939, was "Black Friday", when a firestorm swept across southern Victoria, killing 71. Some of the resultant ash and smoke fell as far away as New Zealand. The bushfires were doused by welcome rains on January 15. * On 8 February 1983, a dust cloud 320m deep advanced towards Melbourne, already suffering a record February maximum temperature of 43.2°C. The dust storm hit the city around 3pm, dropping the temperatures dramatically, whilst wind squalls uprooted trees and unroofed houses. Visibility dropped to around 100m as the storm dumped approximately 1,000 tonnes of topsoil on the city.

The total mass of the 1983 Melbourne dust storm was estimated to be about two million tonnes: at its height, it extended across the entire width of Victoria, and was several kilometres deep. The cost of the damage of drought and dust storm combined was ultimately tens of millions of dollars. * 16 February 1983 saw the "Ash Wednesday" bushfires. On that day, eight days after the dust storm, approximately 180 bushfires broke out around the state. Around 200,000 hectares of land were destroyed, the equivalent of twice the size of Melbourne. 47 people were killed, including seventeen volunteer firefighters, over 2000 homes were destroyed and farmers experienced huge stock losses. * Victoria experienced an extreme heatwave when temperatures exceeded a record-breaking 47 degrees for several days and this, together with the tinder-dry countryside, provided the catalyst to horrific bushfires, starting on 7 February 2009, which lasted almost three weeks and killed over 200.