Strong waves and sediment-laden freshwater pushed out from river catchments may have damaged parts of reef system, experts say
Back-to-back cyclones crossing the Great Barrier Reef have experts concerned vast flood plumes and heavy waves may have damaged parts of the world’s biggest coral reef system.
Reef scientists and conservationists went into the summer worried that an El Niño weather pattern would elevate the risk of mass coral bleaching.
Continue reading...Damaging weather and heavy rain pummels Darwin as BoM forecasts another cyclone could cross Queensland’s east coast from Tuesday
Queensland residents face the threat of another cyclone reaching their shores within days as intense rain continues across Australia’s north.
A tropical low building in the Coral Sea is expected to turn towards the coast from Sunday, with the system most likely becoming a tropical cyclone by Monday.
Continue reading...Boat occupants on a surfing trip found clinging to the hull as more than 110mm of rain falls over the outskirts of Cairns in 24 hours
Seven seafarers are lucky to be alive after their boat capsized in rough seas as monsoonal weather brought flooding to rivers across Queensland.
Heavy rain persisted across the state’s drenched far north on Sunday as towns near the Victorian-New South Wales border faced their own flooding concerns.
Continue reading...BoM forecasts show communities hit hard by recent floods may see more wild weather and flash flooding in coming days
Residents of far north Queensland still recovering from the devastation wreaked by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper could be hit by more heavy rain from a monsoon trough over coming days, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.
There is a chance the monsoon trough may develop over the Gulf of Carpentaria by Thursday, bringing with it thunderstorms and potential flooding to the east coast and north Queensland, according to the BoM.
Continue reading...Qantas and Jetstar to offer special airfares, with accommodation deals to come, as Queensland premier insists region is ‘open for business’ after Cyclone Jasper
Images of Tropical Cyclone Jasper’s devastating impact on far north Queensland may have driven away tourists during peak season.
But the Queensland premier, Steven Miles, insists the region is “open for business”, making a $5m pitch to lure visitors back.
Continue reading...Some households could go without electricity into the new year as state endures high temperatures following extreme weather
Areas of Queensland affected by “unprecedented” storms now face the prospect of days without electricity amid extreme heat.
Storms and flash flooding across south-east Queensland have claimed the lives of seven people since Christmas but households have now been warned to prepare for a heatwave.
Continue reading...Royal Life Saving Society chief says Australians may not be ‘as strong swimmers as we believe’ as December toll hits 22
Another person has drowned in New South Wales, adding to the rising drowning death toll that has prompted a warning from lifesavers at what is considered the deadliest time of year.
Four people were pulled from the water at Port Stephens on Wednesday afternoon, including a 33-year-old man who could not be revived and died at the scene.
Continue reading...‘Very disappointing results, it is no wonder that so many Australians remain fed up with our major airlines,’ Catherine King says. Follow today’s news updates live
‘Very, very clear’ renewables are the cheapest form of energy, Bowen says
Renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy, including its storage and transmission costs, the energy minister told ABC RN.
Its conclusions this year are unimpeachable and very, very clear.
The cheapest form of energy is renewable energy, even including the costs that go with renewable energy around storage and transmission.
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Just circling back to QFES assistant commissioner Kevin Walsh, who mentioned the state of the roads and reminded people in the area to be very careful when driving around.
Walsh said:
Monday afternoon was the first opportunity that we had to send in rotary aircraft, so we got rotary-wing aircraft in large numbers up in Far North Queensland at the moment through private contractors and also Australian Defence Force. So they’re very busy in the air and relocating people.
And I think the other message also is to have a look at those roads and the damage that they have sustained. There are many roads still under water where you can not see that damage. So it’s really important for the local people to realise that it’s still very, very dangerous to be driving through flooded waters because you can’t see the damage of the roads underneath it. That’s one of our key messages we’d like the local communities to heed.
So far we’ve only been able to assess about 60 properties. I think throughout today though, we’ll get a better sense of how many properties are affected, and then we’ll be looking for further packages of disaster assistance that will put together or put together with the commonwealth.
But just judging from the other emergencies that I’ve been a part of, we’re talking billions not millions [of dollars].
Continue reading...Modelling produced by Institute of Marine Science shows ‘huge area’ in which waves and flood waters could have destroyed coral colonies
Cyclone Jasper’s slow-moving progress across the Coral Sea exposed as much as 20% of the Great Barrier Reef to waves high enough to break apart corals, according to modelling from the Australian Institute of Marine Science (Aims).
Scientists are also concerned flood waters from ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper that drained out into the reef’s lagoon waters could affect corals and seagrass meadows close to shore.
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Communities urged to exercise caution amid ‘huge volumes of water’
QFES commissioner Steve Smith has also made some comments on the flood situation up in Queensland.
There’s still huge volumes of water moving down through the systems, so at different points on the water, in the water catchments, they’re going to have rises. So we need people to stay informed, and they’ve done a great job in doing that. So we want that to continue with the support from community.
No. So we have commenced a search and rescue investigation into that. Degarra was one of the communities we couldn’t get into yesterday, but we have been speaking to a local man where there were a number of rescues completed yesterday in Degarra. So we have dispatched the water police vessel this morning, which left in the early hours of this morning and is on the way to that location. And in addition to that, we’ve now got rescue helicopters going that way as well.
Continue reading...It was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill category two – but flooded streets and cut-off communities show an intensity that nobody saw coming
A lifelong resident of Machans Beach, just outside Cairns, Euan Williams had seen plenty of cyclones before. Once ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper passed over the community on Wednesday last week as a category-two storm, that confirmed it. It wouldn’t amount to much.
“Being locals, a cat two’s sort of like a run of the mill cyclone,” he said.
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