January 30, 2013

Winds approaching 62 miles (100 kilometers) per hour blasted Sydney, Australia’s largest city, yesterday, driving huge swells onto Bondi Beach and drenching the center of the city.

Days of high winds, torrential rains, and powerful ocean swells along Australia’s east coast have left at least four people dead and thousands more displaced in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. According to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, the storm–the remnants of Tropical Cyclone Oswald–has shattered records in various parts of New South Wales, triggering flooding along hundreds of miles from north of Brisbane south to Sydney. State officials estimate that at least 23,000 people remain cut off by floodwaters. Massive flooding north of Brisbane forced the evacuation by military helicopter of approximately 1,000 people from the town of Bundaberg, where rapidly moving floodwater threatened to carry away entire buildings. The highest rainfall was recorded some 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Brisbane, where 53.5 inches (136 centimeters) fell over the three-day period ending on January 27.

Massive flooding along Australia's eastern coast has extended from north of Brisbane south to Sydney. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

The latest floods in Australia have come on top of a barrage of bizarre and destructive weather. Just two weeks ago, New South Wales and Queensland were in the grip of a searing heat wave that triggered dozens of enormous wildfires.