Queensland Floods- Part A Floods Flooding is when the water level in a creek, river, lake or the sea rises and covers land that is normally dry. The rise in water can be due to numerous causes, although most common in Australia is heavy rainfall. Although some floods occur without destruction and problem, others can be devastating, causing large-scale destruction and significant loss of life, such as the Queensland flooding. Flooding is experienced all over the world and in some countries, occurs regularly. Flooding that is sudden and unexpected is referred to as flash flooding. Flash floods are usually cause by slow moving thunderstorms that deposit a large amount of water in a relatively short period of time. The Queensland flooding The Queensland flooding was a devastating disaster that occurred in December 2010 and continued until early 2011. In these tragic events lots of Eastern Australia was inundated by floodwaters. In the floods 35 people were confirmed to be dead and 9 missing and never found. Causes Queensland s devastating floods are the result of heavy rains caused by two normally unconnected weather trends (La Niña and the seasonal monsoons). La Niña is a seasonal interaction between the Pacific Ocean and the Earth s atmosphere to the east of Australia (refer to image 1). The trade winds, the prevailing pattern of easterly winds in the tropics, force warmer water to pool in the western Pacific (refer to image 2). This warm water is trapped off the Australian coast, causing cloud development and rainfall. To the northwest of Australia, the annual monsoonal low pressure trough brings wet weather and heavy rain to the region (refer to image 3). Image 1
Image 2 Image 3
Location of the Queensland Floods Areas affected by the Queensland floods
Climate and rainfall during the Queensland floods Queensland is typically a very warm, wet and tropical location. The reason for this being that it is very close to the equator causing there to be a lot of precipitation and warm weather. Queensland has great vegetation and grows a lot of tropical fruits. Flooding is not rare in Queensland but the 2010-2011 floods were one of the worst Queensland has ever seen. As shown in the above diagram Queensland had some of the highest rainfall ever recorded in those areas.
Social, environmental and economical change The Floods severely affected a large number of important industries in Australia, including the coal industry, the agricultural industry as well as retail, insurance and construction. The floods caused significant cuts in Queensland s coal exports and agricultural production which is estimated to have cost Australia AU$ 6 billion- not including cleanup costs. Not only these costs and the costs of the cleanup have affected Australia but also tourism to Queensland has been greatly affected. Another issue is environment, after the floods it left Queensland dirty and in unsafe living conditions, even with the help of many willing Aussies that volunteered, the cost of the cleanup is estimated to be around AU$ billion. Response to the Floods Many individuals, groups and governments have helped Queensland in getting back on their feet after the Queensland floods. Many individuals helped in Queensland s massive clean up after the floods and groups such as St. Vincent de Paul and The Salvation Army have set up appeals for the Queensland floods in order to help raise money. The Government has also set up a Queensland flood appeal and has put a lot of money and resources towards cleaning up and rebuilding the towns affected by the floods. The government also helped during the floods and many emergency services were sent to Queensland to help protect, rescue and evacuate people. Add campaigns were put in place after the Queensland floods to show the rest of the world Queensland is cleaned up and is still a great tourist destination, so tourism increases thus bringing more money into Queensland. Bibliography http://www.qld.gov.au http://www.bom.gov.au/qld/ http://www.ga.gov.au/ Wordpress http://queenslandfloodsyr9geo.wordpress.com/