Cyclone Carlos hits Northern Australia – Record deluge in Darwin causes huge river flows
21 Feb 2011 (ITN) – Up to 300 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in northern Australia due to rising flood levels caused by Cyclone Carlos. River Daly peaked early in the day, flooding homes in the small town of Nauiyu, south of Darwin. Local reports state animals in the area were snatched by crocodiles swimming in flood waters. Authorities predict flood levels will not recede for at least four days. Makeshift shelters have been set up to house the community. The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that Cyclone Carlos has now intensified into a Category One cyclone.
Cyclone Carlos hits Northern Australia 
By Mark Schliebs, The Australian
February 22, 2011 WATER flow on the flooded Daly River reached 464,000 megalitres a day — more than four times the flow of the Murray at the South Australian border — shortly after 300 residents were evacuated from the small Northern Territory community. Bureau of Meteorology hydrologist Richard Weinmann said the rain from Tropical Cyclone Carlos — which has again developed into a category 1 cyclone and is hovering off the West Australian coast — has filled the Daly’s catchment area and was causing an extremely high surge. The storm yesterday developed into a tropical cyclone west of Broome, and is expected to strengthen as it moves along the WA coast. The weather bureau predicts Carlos will develop into a category 3 cyclone west of Exmouth tomorrow, and has warned of gale-force winds at coastal communities between Broome and Coral Bay today. Mr Weinmann said it was not uncommon for flows along the Daly River to be several times higher than in the Murray. “More water runs off these catchments than anywhere else in the country,” he said. The weather bureau says much of the rain from Carlos fell over Darwin — where it smashed rainfall records after 365mm fell in 24 hours at Darwin airport– and to the city’s south, in the Daly River’s catchment area. In Western Australia, 118mm of rain was recorded at Kimbolton in the 24 hours until yesterday morning. Another 110mm of rain fell at Lombadina and Country Downs. NT Emergency Services director Peter Davies said the Daly River peaked at almost 15m on Sunday night, but had fallen to 14.7m yesterday. “It will probably stay at 14m over the next four or five days,” Mr Davies said. …
