Heavy Rains Trigger Massive Flooding in Australia
March 9, 2012
Days of very heavy rain in Australia have caused flooding in parts of three states, New South Wales (NSW), Queensland, and Victoria. Thousands of residents have been forced to evacuate in NSW, where an enormous stretch–fully 75 percent–of Australia’s most populous state is under water. In what has been described as the state’s worst flooding in 150 years, scores of towns are inundated–from Forbes in central NSW to Griffith in the south and across the state line into northern Victoria. On March 7, the heaviest recorded rainfall in years triggered flash flooding across much of Sydney, Australia’s largest city.
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La Nina weather conditions, which typically bring higher-than-normal rainfall, are affecting Australia’s southeast. “Australia is in the throes of two consecutive La Nina events,” stated Aaron Coutts-Smith, NSW climate manager for Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. “It is very rare to have such persistent, record-breaking rainfall over such large areas . . .” Just weeks ago, in February, thousands were forced to evacuate in Queensland, where residents suffered through a third major flood in less than two years. From 2001 through 2009, the same area, Australia’s southeast, underwent the worst drought in the continent’s recorded history.
Additional World Book articles
- Australia 2006 (Back in Time article)
- Australia 2007 (Back in Time article)
- Australia 2008 (Back in Time article)
- Australia 2009 (Back in Time article)
- Australia 2010 (Back in Time article)
- Australia 2011 (Back in Time article)
