Australia states count cost of record floods
By Saffron Howden, with AAP
December 11, 2010 Across the east, riverside communities have spent the week battling to protect their livelihoods. THE SWEEP of heavy grey across south-eastern Australia this week flooded hundreds of towns across four states, prompted the evacuation of thousands of homes and caused untold damage to the nation’s food bowl. From Wangaratta in north-eastern Victoria to Rockhampton in Queensland – crossing several NSW farming hubs in between – floods have threatened towns, drowned crops and pastures, claimed four lives and swelled eastern Australia’s biggest river systems to record levels. By yesterday afternoon, 33 NSW shires had been declared natural disaster areas, including the latest flood hotspots of Orange, Tumut and the Liverpool Plains. Fifteen more local government areas in Queensland were in the same boat. ”We’ve had almost continuous flood warnings since the end of November,” the manager of the Bureau of Meteorology’s NSW Flood Warning Centre, Gordon McKay, said. ”In the past two weeks we’ve probably issued 200 to 300 flood warnings. ”What’s been unusual is the persistence of this. We’d have to go back to the ’70s to see that. Every major western-flowing river south of the Gwydir has had moderate to major flood warnings issued.” Since Monday, almost 200 flood warnings have been issued in Victoria. Queenslanders have been advised of impending disaster six times a day this week. This weekend, Rockhampton residents are bracing for the Fitzroy River to peak. About 1500 people in NSW were on evacuation alert last night and flooding of the Peel River was expected at Tamworth. No overall price tag has been placed on the havoc the storms and rivers have inflicted over the past 10 days but the cost to public infrastructure in NSW alone will be well over $60 million. ”It’s safe to say that this is the most widespread flood event we’ve seen in over 30 years,” the NSW Emergency Services Minister, Steve Whan, said. Since the rain began 10 days ago, the NSW State Emergency Service has responded to about 2460 calls for help, there have been 120 rescues and 350,000 sandbags have been laid. More than 2000 people have been evacuated from their homes and thousands more have been cut off by flood. … Farmers were frustrated. ”The difficulty here is we’ve had 10 years of drought and some have good crops and then [to have to] run around and not be able to harvest them,” Mr Laurie said. ”The sheer frustration of it: they can’t stop it raining and they can’t harvest. ”On the flip side of it … the rice industry can come back into gear after 10 years.” … The SES has warned Christmas and the New Year may bring more severe weather.
