Forced evacuations begin in Rockhampton

Forced evacuations begin in Rockhampton

www.news.com.au

FORCED evacuations are underway in the Queensland city of Rockhampton as the flood crisis that's already affected 200,000 people escalates.

Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said the first people to be moved would be the elderly and others who required additional assistance, followed by those in low-lying areas.

"Police will order people in affected areas to leave their homes," Mr Carter told AAP.

" ... This will be done with the full support and supervision of police under disaster management declaration provisions."

At Emerald, directly west of Rockhampton, the full scale of the

(visit the link for the full news article)

"This disaster is a long way from over," the premier told the Nine Network on Friday, saying 22 towns or cities were inundated or isolated.

Mr Carter said there was no question the Fitzroy River would rise beyond nine metres this weekend, a level that would see 200 homes inundated and 4000 parcels of land affected by flooding.

It's tipped to rise to 9.4 metres, and possibly beyond, on Tuesday which would make it the city's worst flood since 1954 when waters also reached that height.

Mr Carter told AAP the sheer volume of water in the catchment meant he could not rule out the prospect of a flood to rival the 10.11 metres seen in 1918.


www.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

This happens yearly now in Australia and at least a lot is being done to help, however it worries me that we have gone from one extreme to another ..bushfires now to floods. Its really wierd the weather these days in this country !








Mod Note: New External Source Tags – Please Review This Link.

Hope they can get everyone to safety.. Good to see aussies pulling together and helping each other..

Yeah the weather has been really weird Australia wide the last month.
I wish those Queenslanders who are affected, a safe New Years Eve tonight.

I hope that everyone comes out okay, and that they are spared as much loss as possible. No matter how bad it gets, folks... remember that material things, even houses, can be replaced. Lives cannot.

reply to post by q_ball


Really hope everyone in the Northern parts keep safe. The SES and emergency services really do a fantastic job, very under-rated!

Certainly is worrying weather we've been experiencing that's for sure!!

With all the rain we've had lately, all we need now is a dry hot spell that turns the grass into fuel. Then we can expect another horrific bushfire season.

Some unofficial estimates are placing 95% of the northern crops being wiped out, that coupled with the earlier November/December flooding of the Southern New South Wales food bowl and the continuing advance of the locust plagues in Western New South Wales spells absolutely bad news. Hope everyone's got some type of home garden happening.

Originally posted by q_ball

This happens yearly now in Australia and at least a lot is being done to help, however it worries me that we have gone from one extreme to another ..bushfires now to floods. Its really wierd the weather these days in this country !

edit on 30-12-2010 by q_ball because: (no reason given)

A little bit of a poem to explain that situation.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror –
The wide brown land for me!
Dorothea McKellar

you get extremes as you come out of a El Niño into a La Niña

Oh man, this sounds awful. I hope everyone stays safe.
Who would have thought those guys would need boats?

reply to post by q_ball


that really sucks. I had no idea this was going on at all.

I deliberately didn't watch tv for the last 2-3 weeks so...the phrase under a rock comes to mind.

-B.M

Originally posted by heffo7
reply to post by q_ball
Hope everyone's got some type of home garden happening.

2 of my friends do & I will starting next payday, thanks for the heads up.

-B.M

With the threat of drought having been the primary focus year on year recently.... this is a kick in the teeth .

Premier Anna Bligh, who is touring flood hit communities with Prime Minister Julia Gillard, says flooding had affected an area bigger than France and Germany combined. Read more: www.news.com.au...

link underline/mine


Quite an incredible scale .

I thought this was a good pic to add


[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/926a5c52435e.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by q_ball


From the articles I am seeing there is an area in Austrailia that is flooded that is larger than Germany and Spain combined. Thats a whole lot of problems....

Not to mention Chinchilla & Dalby. A small town with a creek that usually runs dry so of course no one there has flood insurance! There's also Emerald & Condamine, plus all the little towns in between.
Lots of pics here
and more here
The biggest fear is water born diseases and contamination. We wish all those affected the best of luck.

reply to post by q_ball


Are there any threats from tailings dams overflowing in the region because of the deluge, or is mining industry based elsewhere ?

Cheers mates, God bless and keep you,
This has been a helluva decade or so for you sundowners....
The rest of us watch and pray for your safety.
please keep us posted....

Weather!
I am 62 years old. I don't recall a time when weather was more of an issue world-wide than it has been the last year or two. It seems to be getting worse by the day.

Whatever is happening, I hope it is just about thru messing with our lives, but something tells me its just getting started.

My heart goes out to all those people who are starting the new year with this disaster. Good luck to you.

reply to post by UmbraSumus


Mining all over the place, but I think it's mostly coal mining.

shut mines and prompted BHP Billiton Ltd., Xstrata Plc and Rio Tinto Group to declare force majeure, allowing them to miss contracted deliveries.

Queensland Floods Hit Mines, Crops, May Cost Billions

The Bureau of meteorology has a map of the affected areas and severity, www.bom.gov.au... showing just the sort of area involved.

As demonstrated by the poem posted earlier, it can be a land of extremes. Here's the page on historical floods and droughts going back to european colonisation. www.bom.gov.au...

It must be pretty severe flooding for some people to be evacuated.You can imagine what it would be like.Already some of the other towns in Queensland has felt the effects and it must also be a nightmare for that city.There will be a massive clean up of Rockhampton and this flooding will cause millions of dollars worth in damage.You have to feel sorry for that city and I hope it never goes through that stage again.

reply to post by q_ball


Montana sends best wisehs and pray eveyone makes it through alive.peace to your country