Ex-Tropical Cyclone DEBBIE – UPDATE 000402

Record-Breaking Flood Forecast for Central Queensland, Australia

Residents central Queensland city of Rockhampton have been warned to leave low-lying areas ahead of a potentially record-breaking flood this week, as after-effects of ex-Tropical Cyclone DEBBIE loom, with major flooding expected in the Fitzroy River on Monday.

Some  5,400 properties, including 3,000 homes, face inundation when Fitzroy River reaches major flood levels on Monday and then peaks as high as 9.4 meters on Wednesday — its highest flood peak in more than 60 years.

Earlier, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) declared Cyclone DEBBIE a catastrophe and warned that, based on previous cyclones, the damage could cost billions of dollars.

FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models Show that the cost of damage caused by DEBBIE could exceed $8billion.

• City of Lismore in northeastern New South Wales described as “a disaster zone” as receding floodwaters reveal damage
• Towns between Murwillumbah and Stotts Creek are isolated
• Residents returning to properties in Tweed Heads, Lismore are told to look for wildlife, vermin and snakes that may have taken refuge in the property.

Related Links

• Ex-cyclone batters northern NSW, leaves trail of destruction in Qld
• House swept away minutes after family rescued from roof
• Receding water levels reveal NSW flood destruction
• Thousands of central Qld homes face inundation with flood peak expected
• Extensive damage revealed in northern NSW as floodwaters subside

 

Cyclone DEBBIE: Evacuations Ordered amid Threat of ‘Significant Tidal Surges’

Cyclone DEBBIE Bears Down on QLD Coast

Evacuations have been ordered in coastal towns and communities in north Queensland as Tropical Cyclone DEBBIE threatens to generate damaging tidal surges.

DEBBIE is forecast to cross the Queensland coast early on Tuesday morning with winds of up to 230 km/h and significant tidal surges.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) warns that it could be the worst cyclone since Cat 5 YASI, which devastated the same region in 2011.

BOM satellite showing Cyclone Debbie’s approach on Sunday afternoon./www.abc.net.au/

Details of Tropical Cyclone DEBBIE at 1:00 am AEST (UTC + 10:00) on Monday, March 27, 2017 issued by BOM:

Intensity: Category 2, sustained winds near the center of 100 km/h with wind gusts to 150 km/hr.

Location: within 35km of 18.5 degrees South 150.6 degrees East, estimated to be 405km east northeast of Townsville and 300km northeast of Bowen.

Movement: west southwest at 6 km/h.

Tropical cyclone DEBBIE remains a category 2 cyclone. It is continuing to move WSW towards the north Queensland coast and is forecast to intensify to a category 3 system during Monday. Tropical cyclone DEBBIE is likely to continue on a similar track and may intensify further to category 4 prior to making landfall between Rollingstone and Proserpine on Tuesday morning. [BOM]

 

Major Heatwave Sweeping across Australia

Extreme Weather Event

Near 50ºC Temperatures Forecast for NSW and QLD

An extreme heatwave will sweep across eastern Australia this weekend, with the temperatures soaring to near 50ºC (122℉) in parts of the states of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD), said forecasters.

The heatwave moves across Australia starting Friday. The red area represents temperatures above 45C. Image: Australia Bureau of Meteorology.

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Extreme heat will scorch outback QLD and NSW by Tuesday, February 7. The red area represents temperatures above 45C. Image: Australia Bureau of Meteorology.

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• Additional details are available from BOM.

 

Australian River on Fire in Mining Area

Massive fracking fires in the river burn for over an hour: Australian MP

Massive flames erupt from methane gas bubbling to the surface of the Condamine River in Quessland, Australia due to ongoing coal seam gas mining [fracking] in the region, according to locals.

[Hydraulic Fracturing of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs, also known as coal seam gas mining releases coalbed methane, or coal seam gas (CSG), a method of gas production popular in Australia, Canada, United States, and several other countries.]

River on Fire in Queensland, Ausralia!

“Large bubbles of the gas gurgle along the surface of the river before [Australia] Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham waves a kitchen lighter over the side of a tinny boat,” said a report.

“I was shocked by the force of the explosion when I tested whether gas boiling through the Condamine River, Qld was flammable,” Buckingham said.

“So much gas is bubbling through the river that it held a huge flame for over an hour.”

“Over the last few years there more and more patches of bubbles have appeared on the river and the pressure of the gas has increased to the point where it is like an over-sized spa bath. It’s a river, it shouldn’t be doing that,” said local resident John Jenkyn, who lives next to the gas field.

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