Australia Natural Disasters

Bushfires in Australia are very common during summer.

However, bushfires like the massive Black Saturday fires across Victoria in February 2009, which killed almost 200 people, only occur every few decades. Prior to Black Saturday, the worst fires were Ash Wednedsay (1983) and Black Friday (1939).

In between, there have been some deadly bushfires that killed a smaller number of people (Canberra 2003; Eyre Peninsula 2005).

In other years, many areas may be threatened by bushfires, particularly in the south and over in Western Australia, leading to huge property losses.

Depends upon where you are and what the weather and fuel conditions are.

For example, in the southwestern part of the USA, an average of 60 to 70 percent of the wildfires are started by lightning.

However, as a global average, only about 8 percent of the wildfires are caused by natural events.

The safest thing you can do is simply evacuate as soon as the authorities issue the warning. Prior to this, in the leadup to bushfire season, homeowners can show responsible forethought by ensuring there are no leaves in gutters or vegetation and other fuel close to the house. Have important papers and medications ready to go if you have to leave in a hurry. It is best to keep the area around one's house as clear as possible, but when a bushfire threatens, one must evacuate immediately. There is no point in stocking up on supplies.

Approximately 2000 homes were destroyed in the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia in February 2009.

• Bushfires are fires which occur in the Australian bush, usually native bushland, which quickly spread out of control. They may also occur in grasslands.
• Bushfires may last a matter of hours, or up to three weeks, as in the case of the deadly 2009 "Black Saturday" bushfires.
• Bushfires are most common in Australia's southeast up to the Queensland/New South Wales border during the summer months, and again further north around Rockhampton. They also occur regularly in the southwest of Western Australia.
• Bushfires often occur after a period of heatwave, together with strong, gusting winds, and absence of precipitation.
• Hilly or mountainous terrain is more prone to bushfires than flat land, where bushfires can be more easily controlled. Bushfires move much faster uphill.
• Most bushfires are caused by lightning strikes. They are also commonly caused by man's activities, whether arson or unintentionally lighting the fires such as by tossing cigarettes out of car windows, or not extinguishing campfires properly. Faulty power lines are also often a cause.

Bushfires can vary in size depending on many factors such as weather conditions, fuel load, and geography. Some bushfires can cover hundreds of thousands of hectares, but the largest ones can exceed millions of hectares. The size of a bushfire can also be influenced by firefighting efforts and strategies employed to contain it.

The areas where many of the bushfires occurred in Victoria in 2009 are characterised by densely treed mountain slopes. Fires move more quickly uphill, so this meant that not only did the fires move through the countryside rapidly, but they were fed by the fuel of the thick vegetation. This resulted in more intense fires which were very difficult to extinguish.

Lightning strikes are the most common natural cause of bushfires.

A bushfire primarily requires fuel and some method of igniting it. The method of ignition could be by man, either purposefully (vandalism) or accidentally, e.g. campfire left burning, a tossed cigarette, a glass bottle which focuses the sun's rays on the dry fuel.

Fuel may be created through prolonged drought or dry conditions, which causes vegetation to dry out. This is why Australia is so prone to bushfires - drought is a common problem. Strong winds can fan the flames into a raging inferno, or a wind change can take a narrow fire front and turn the flank around into a wide front which is even more destructive and harder to control.

Yes, the direction of a hurricane's rotation is determined by the hemisphere it occurs in. In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes rotate counterclockwise, while in the Southern Hemisphere they rotate clockwise due to the Coriolis effect.

Bushfires can have both positive and negative effects on regrowth. While high-intensity fires can damage vegetation and hinder regrowth, moderate-intensity fires can stimulate seed germination and promote growth of certain plant species. Additionally, fire can release nutrients into the soil, which can benefit regrowth in the long term.

Floods and severe storms with hail are the most common natural disasters in Brisbane. These storms have become increasingly stronger in intensity, with lightning strikes and high, gusting winds causing major damage. Bushfires occasionally occur in the mountains around the city, but these never cause major damage.

Cyclones very rarely reach as far south as Brisbane, the last one significant one being in 1974 when "Cyclone Wanda" dumped a huge amount of water in the Brisbane catchment, contributing to massive floods. Having said that, however, meteorologists are predicting more cyclones to occur near Brisbane in the 2010-2011 Summer season.

Bushfires can occur throughout Australia, depending on the time of the year. They are more likely to happen in the southern states during Summer and Autumn, in the north during Winter and Spring, and in the middle latitudes during Spring and Summer. They are also more likely in an area which has experienced a period of plenty of rainfall, followed by weeks of dry, hot weather which dries out all the new vegetation which has sprung up.

Bushfires in Australia are most like to occur along the eastern seaboard south of the NSW border and southern coastline in heavily vegetated areas. They commonly occur around Sydney, where there are huge tracts of native bushland, and the ranges around Melbourne. Currently (February 2009), bushfires are raging through the mountains and hills around Melbourne, and to the east and west of the capital city, in the Gippsland area, and west as far as Bendigo. Over 100 lives have been lost, and over 700 homes destroyed in Australia's worst bushfires ever.

Inland areas of NSW which are full of scrub are prone to bushfires. Canberra is surrounded by wooded ranges, again providing fuel for bushfires as was shown in the 2003 fires where four people lost their lives. South Australia has certainly had its share of fires, despite overall less heavily wooded areas: the Eyre Peninsula bushfires of 2005 were particularly devastating, as were the Ash Wednesday tragedies which reached the outer suburbs of Adelaide. Bushfires also occur over in the bushland around Perth. After a dry season, these areas provide enough fuel for bushfires to quickly spread, and the climate can change from pleasantly temperate to hot, dry and windy - perfect conditions for bushfires.

Bushfires are less likely in the far north because of the wetter conditions, but they do still occur. Even Brisbane and the Queensland coast rarely have serious bushfires - certainly not on the devastating scale that has been seen down south. However, Rockhampton and Mount Morgan, just inland from Queensland's central coast, recently (Spring 2009) saw several days of horrific bushfires, as conditions are drier there.

Lightning starts by a Thunder storm. Thunderstorms always come with a lot of wind. The wind starts to rub the surface of the ground and buildings. This action brings the electrons to the clouds. The ground becomes positively charged and the bottom of the cloud becomes negative and upper part becomes positive. Since clouds are better conductors than air, the clouds start to build up charges. This causes the lightning. Once lightning hits a tree, or another object, not just the ground, then the current moves through the tree and continues to spread horizontally.

By Allie. (Scientist)

Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/10796/ch11/lightning.htm

A single stroke of lightning can reach a temperature of 30,500oC, or five times hotter than the Sun's surface. If lightning strikes dry vegetation, this heat energy can start bushfires.

Source: http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenfoe.nsf/childdocs/-44688EB30B57BF124A2567CB000DB2EF-BDFD9C1B8EF2DDC5CA256BE600287703?open

Short-term effects of bushfires include immediate loss of life, destruction of homes, habitat destruction, and air pollution from smoke. Long-term effects may include changes to ecosystems, loss of biodiversity, increased risk of erosion and flooding, and impacts on water quality. Additionally, there can be long-lasting psychological impacts on affected communities.

The government responded with relief efforts, including emergency supplies and medical assistance. The cyclone prompted infrastructure improvements and led to the founding of the Indian Meteorological Department to better forecast such disasters.

The govt of the day did a lot to help. The Qld premier & the prime minister where here the following day. As soon as it was safe, the federal govt had the army moving in by the afternoon of the cyclone, they cleared the streets of debri over a month or so. All sorts of other assistance was available, from monetary to physical.

No complaints from me. Now & Larry & Yasi survivor.

Organizations such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Country Fire Authority, and the Australian government provided assistance during the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria, Australia. They offered emergency relief, support services, financial aid, and resources to help affected individuals and communities recover from the devastating fires.

Several towns along the coast were affected by the cyclone, including Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, and Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia. These towns experienced strong winds, heavy rainfall, and flooding as a result of the cyclone.

The Big Ben volcano is located in Heard Island, which is an Australian external territory in the southern Indian Ocean. The nearest city to Heard Island is Perth, which is the capital of Western Australia.

Cyclone George in 2007 was caused by a combination of warm ocean waters and atmospheric conditions that fueled the development of a tropical low pressure system in the Indian Ocean. As it intensified, the system evolved into a powerful cyclone that eventually made landfall in Western Australia.

The most destructive cyclone in India was the 1999 Odisha cyclone, also known as Cyclone Paradip. It struck the eastern coast of India, causing widespread devastation, with over 10,000 people losing their lives and extensive damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and livelihoods. It remains one of the deadliest cyclones to have hit India.

Bushfires can affect food prices by disrupting the production and distribution of crops and livestock. This can lead to decreased supply and increased demand, causing prices to rise as a result. Additionally, damage to farmland and infrastructure can impact the ability of farmers to grow and transport their products, further influencing food prices.

Approximately: Latitude:-37.471308°, Longitude:144.785153°