You resident Aussies here ...

[Highlander]

Primary headlines over here... there was some footage of a (Cessna) floating away - surreal...

Soon be 2012...

[Freuds_Cat]

17 of the 23 dams in the affected area are 100% full or above capacity. The largest, Wivenhoe Dam is currently at 190%. All dam floodgates are fully open and have been for over a week Except Wivenhoe which had all 5 gates opened fully as of last night.
Its maximum capacity is 225%

Professor Hubert Chanson, a professor in hydraulic engineering at the University of Queensland, says the dam was built to withstand an event similar to what we are seeing. However......

"The Wivenhoe Dam is not designed to be overtopped, it is what we call an embankment dam. And if water was to flow over the top of the crest of the dam, there would be a very high risk of erosion of the dam wall and ultimately failure of the dam," he said.

"If the water was to spill over the top of the crest of the dam we would look at the failure of the dam on the possible complete emptying of the reservoir into the Brisbane River with deadly consequences for the people living downstream."

But he says there are a number of safeguards to prevent such an event.

"The first one is the primary spillway, the main spillway you have seen on the TV news," he said.

"That is the location where they are currently controlling the downstream release of water into the Brisbane River.

"But they also have a secondary emergency spillway where if the water were to reach dangerous levels it would start to provide further release from the dam wall."


Some towns have been hit twice in a few days by flash flooding. The water is making its way down to Brisbane and shoud peak tonight.

[Dave W]

Terrible for all involved. The Brisbane situation sounds like a worse disaster in the making.

[Freuds_Cat]

Terrible for all involved. The Brisbane situation sounds like a worse disaster in the making.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2011/01/12/3111216.htm

[Denis]

Good mojo from Raleigh for all you Aussies!

[Freuds_Cat]

Financial analysts predicting final clean up costs to be higher than that of Katrina.
Currently 15 Air force and 10 civilian helicopters working in the flood area.
Hospitals already organising for the medical aftermath including water borne diseases and those caused by contaminated water.
40,000 properties affected in Qld.

[uwe]

That looks worse than Kathrina and that is saying something. 

[Freuds_Cat]

The latest is that they are predicting a Cyclone to hit Queensland the day after Australia day, Wed Week.

[Highlander]

Strewth...! talk about kicking a guy when he's down...

I'd drop the (G*ds) own country for fear of bringing down any more wrath...

[Freuds_Cat]

My mate in Atlanta has been telling me how insanely cold and snowy its been there. Weathers weird .....

[Freuds_Cat]

 So in the last few months we have had floods  at Canarvon in northern Western Australia which is 3,800 Kms away from The Queensland Floods.
Bushfires in southern Western Australia (The normally green and higher rainfall area of WA).
Two floods in Queensland
One flood in Northern new South Wales and two in Victoria.

Of course we have had floods in northern South Australia causing the massive lake Eyre to fill up in what is a very rare occurence. This is not such a big issue due to the fact that its desert/outback and very few people live there. The scale of water movement is the same though.

[Aussie Mark]

That pic goes to show how well the traffic light control panels are waterproofed!

The US Embassy in the background seems safe though.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

My mate in Atlanta has been telling me how insanely cold and snowy its been there. Weathers weird .....

Actually the weather in the US's Southeast seems to be returning to its historically normal pattern. The past 30 years have been abnormally warm and dry. Scores of retirees from northern and midwestern states are now finding out that they didn't move far enough south to escape winter completely.

[godofthunder]

Yep, Peter Garrett was Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts uner former prime minister Kevin Rudd. He is now is Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth under PM Julia Gillard.

http://www.aph.gov.au/house/members/member.asp?id=HV4

Midnight Oil is one of my favorite '90's bands

[Freuds_Cat]

Midnight Oil is one of my favorite '90's bands

My fav Oils album is their 1979 effort Head Injuries. full of gold IMHO.