2010–11 Queensland floods
The 2010–11 Queensland floods were a significant natural disaster that impacted the Australian state of Queensland from December 2010 to January 2011. Triggered by a combination of weather factors, including the La Niña phenomenon, Queensland experienced unprecedented rainfall leading to widespread flooding. Major rivers, creeks, and catchments overflowed, resulting in severe disruption across the state, including highway closures, hospital evacuations, and the inundation of thousands of homes and businesses. Tragically, at least 35 lives were lost due to the flooding, and the total damage is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.
The floods were particularly devastating in Brisbane, where the Brisbane River swelled significantly, flooding over 1,000 homes and many businesses. In the aftermath, communities faced extensive cleanup and recovery efforts, supported by tens of thousands of volunteers and emergency services. The floods not only caused immediate destruction but also had long-lasting effects on the affected regions, highlighting Queensland's vulnerability to such climatic events. These floods are remembered as one of the most catastrophic in Queensland's history, marked by their severity and the extensive damage they caused to both lives and infrastructure.
2010–11 Queensland floods
The 2010–2011 Queensland floods were a series of natural disasters that took place in the Australian state of Queensland from December 2010 to January 2011. The floods began after a combination of weather factors, including the La Niña meteorological phenomenon, caused excessive rain. Many rivers, creeks, and other water bodies swelled and flooded across the state, often repeatedly over weeks. At least 35 people lost their lives in the ongoing crisis. Thousands of homes and businesses were harmed or destroyed, incurring billions of dollars in damages.
Background and Causes
The 2010–11 Queensland floods occurred after a rare combination of meteorological variables brought excessive rain to the region. Most years, Queensland and neighboring states in Australia experience a monsoon, or rainy, season from around October to April, with the heaviest rains starting in late December. In 2010, however, the rain began early and intensified in the fall and early winter.
During this time, a climatic phenomenon known as La Niña altered winds, tides, and water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. La Niña occurs periodically and generally leads to increased rain, including that of two previous damaging floods in eastern Australia in 1955 and 1973–74. The 2010 La Niña was forecasted by meteorologists but resulted in even more storms and rainfall, and with greater intensity, than anticipated.
The combination of an unusually lengthy rainy season and the powerful changes caused by La Niña led to record amounts of rain throughout Australia between July and December 2010. The hardest-hit areas of the country were the eastern states, particularly Queensland, where as much as twelve inches of rain fell between November 28 and December 4. The ground was saturated and rivers and other bodies of water were overwhelmed with added rainfall until they began to flood.
Main Flood Episodes
During December, more than a dozen rivers throughout Queensland began to flood, along with numerous creeks, basins, and catchments. Some of the rivers included the Balonne, Dawson, Fitzroy, Barcoo, Bremer, Bulloo, Condamine, Moonie, and Warrego Rivers. Cooper, Laidley, and Warrill Creeks were also at flood stage. Some of these waterways would flood repeatedly over the coming weeks.
These floods contributed to highway closings, hospital evacuations, thousands of property inundations, school and business closings, and other significant disruptions around the state. The situation grew even worse in late December, when tropical cyclone Tasha formed off Queensland and moved across the coast, bringing even more rain to the already waterlogged state. Rivers and creeks, particularly in the northern regions, flooded again and again.
River and creek flooding occurred repeatedly throughout early January as well, damaging or destroying tens of thousands of buildings and leaving like numbers of people homeless. The January floods included the Condamine, Dawson, Fitzroy, Balonne, Caboolture, Mary, and Dumaresq Rivers. Many sections of Queensland were declared disaster areas; some were isolated by the rising waters. Food and clean water grew scarce. The Australian Defence Force mobilized to deliver emergency supplies to these areas using boats and airdrops.
By January 12, the flooding had spread to Queenland's capital city of Brisbane. The nearby Brisbane River swelled massively, inundating more than 1,000 homes and 557 businesses and severely damaging many thousands of others. Brisbane filled with water teeming with debris, including a boardwalk and many jetties, whose sweep through the city caused additional destruction. The city shut down most of its businesses and its electricity, which stayed out in many areas for more than a week.
Effects and Aftermath
When the flood waters finally began to recede in later January, they left behind a badly damaged Queensland covered by debris of all sizes and a thick layer of mud. Tens of thousands of volunteers began the long and arduous process of cleaning the devastation and rebuilding their cities and towns. Some communities were cut off by high waters and debris, requiring emergency deliveries of clean water and other necessary supplies.
The rescue and recovery efforts that began in late January—and in some cases took months or years to complete—were complicated by the fact that neighboring states such as New South Wales and Victoria had also experienced heavy rains. These states suffered through serious flooding and related damages, though not to the enormous extent seen in Queensland. Even after the end of the rainy season, much water remained, with some areas draining slowly into the Pacific Ocean or by various channels into the interior of the continent.
Damages incurred in the Queensland flooding of 2010 and 2011 were disastrous. At least 35 people lost their lives as a result of the raging waters. Although financial estimates varied, the floods caused billions of dollars in damages, including billions more in lost wages and domestic product. The disasters affected about 200,000 people statewide. These floods remain some of the worst disasters in the history of Queensland, a state with a long history of floods. The 2010–2011 floods stand out as particularly distressing for their unexpectedness, severity, and vast damage to life and property.
Bibliography
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