Flooded Queensland faces months of rain

Flooded Australian city faces long wait to dry out
Australia put an army general in charge of flood recovery efforts today after weeks of Heavy Rains deluged the country's northeast, crippling the area's economy, including the Coal Mining industry. Floodwaters have forced most of Queensland state's Coal Mines to shut and some may not restart production for months, ministers said at an emergency Cabinet meeting in Brisbane, the state capital. After the meeting, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced that Major General Mick Slater would lead th...

Australia floods cause 'catastrophic' damage
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia -- Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its Coal Mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said on Wednesday. The worst Flooding in decades has affected an area the size of Germany and France, leaving towns virtual islands in a muddy inland sea, devastated crops, cut major rail and road links to coal ports, slashed exports and forced up world...

Australian floods spread, threaten Barrier Reef
Australia's disastrous floods have spread to 40 towns and are threatening the world-famous Great Barrier Reef as tonnes of sludge pour into the sea, officials and scientists said Wednesday. As anxious residents scrambled to build emergency levees and authorities counted billions of US dollars in economic damage, researchers said the iconic reef's corals could be damaged by run-off from Australia's eastern coast. James Cook University researcher Michelle Devlin said floodwaters carrying debris an...

Australian floods spread, threaten Barrier Reef
Australia's disastrous floods have spread to 40 towns and are threatening the world-famous Great Barrier Reef as tonnes of sludge pour into the sea, officials and scientists said Wednesday. As anxious residents scrambled to build emergency levees and authorities counted billions of US dollars in economic damage, researchers said the iconic reef's corals could be damaged by run-off from Australia's eastern coast. James Cook University researcher Michelle Devlin said floodwaters carrying debris an...

Australian floods spread, threaten Barrier Reef
Stumble This! Australia's disastrous floods have spread to 40 towns and are threatening the world-famous Great Barrier Reef as tonnes of sludge pour into the sea, officials and scientists said Wednesday. As anxious residents scrambled to build emergency levees and authorities counted billions of dollars in economic damage, researchers said the iconic reef's corals could be damaged by run-off from Australia's eastern coast. James Cook University researcher Michelle Devlin said floodwaters carryi...

Flooded Australia city faces long wait to dry out
In this Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011 photo, an island is formed by flood water... BRISBANE, Australia (AP) - Floodwaters in an inundated city on Australia's northeastern coast held steady below their predicted peak on Wednesday as exhausted residents were warned they would face a long wait before the churning, muddy mess dries up. Residents of the waterlogged city of Rockhampton were hopeful the river had swelled to its highest level, with the mayor saying the community appeared to have been spared an...

Australian flood-hit towns scramble to build levees
Hundreds of Australians scrambled in the rain to build levee banks and evacuate Hospital patients Wednesday as floods that have inundated or cut off 40 towns rolled downstream. Residents of St. George, which has a history of heavy floods, flew out nursing home patients and set up a temporary Hospital as waters rose in what Queensland's Top Official called a disaster "without precedent". "Everyone is pitching in, doing what they can do," said Senator Barnaby Joyce, who lives in the town. "As soon...

Australian city cut off by floods braces for more
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia -- Weary residents of an Australian coastal city inundated with floodwaters braced Wednesday for water levels to peak, as state officials held an emergency meeting to help determine recovery plans for the 200,000 people affected by the deluge. More than a week of pounding rains has left much of northeastern Australia under a sea of muddy water that is making its way through river systems toward the ocean. The swollen Fitzroy River was expected to reach its highest level W...

Australians Watch, And Wait, For Flooding To Recede
The worst Flooding to hit Australia in a half-century appeared to have peaked in the country's northeast on Wednesday, but residents of one coastal city were warned that it may be weeks before the waters recede. The mayor of Rockhampton, the last major town inundated by the slow-moving flood in Queensland state, said the city appeared to have been spared any further damage as the chocolate-brown floodwaters were holding below their predicted peak. The Fitzroy River, which flows through Rockhampt...

Australia floods cause 'catastrophic' damage
Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its Coal Mines — which fuel Asia's steel mills — to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said Wednesday. The worst Flooding in decades has affected an area the size of Germany and France, left towns virtual islands in a muddy inland sea, devastated crops, cut major rail and road links to coal ports, slashed exports and forced up world coal prices. Ar...

Australian city cut off by floods braces for more
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia - Weary residents of an Australian coastal city inundated with floodwaters braced Wednesday for water levels to peak, as state officials held an emergency meeting to help determine recovery plans for the 200,000 people affected by the deluge. More than a week of pounding rains has left much of northeastern Australia under a sea of muddy water that is making its way through river systems toward the ocean. The swollen Fitzroy River was expected to reach its highest lev...

Australia floods cause "catastrophic" damage
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Wed Jan 5, 2011 5:57am EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its Coal Mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said on Wednesday. The worst Flooding in decades has affected an area the size of Germany and France, leaving towns virtual islands in a muddy inland sea, devastated crops, ...

Residents of flooded Australian city face long recovery
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — Floodwaters in an inundated city on Australia's coast held steady below their predicted peak on Wednesday, as exhausted residents were warned they would face a long wait before the churning, muddy mess dries up. Residents of the waterlogged city of Rockhampton were hopeful the river had swelled to its highest level, with the mayor saying the community appeared to have been spared any further damage. Water from the overflowing Fitzroy River has already swamped 20...

Will Global Warming Amplify The Energy Crisis? Look At Australia
One detects a slow, ironic hooray welling up from the Climate Change community this week because after a year of intense weather that’s devastated food crops worldwide now an epic flood in Australia threatens to cripple the production of coal. Accounting for 30% of global energy supply–and ready to go higher as oil supply declines–coal was thought to be permanently relegated to the 19th century only a decade ago. Now, however, coal is the go-to energy source of the developing w...

Rarin' To Go: Congress Returns Tomorrow
What is this? The next Congress officially convenes tomorrow but who's waiting? As NPR's Frank James writes over on the It's All Politics blog, Item One is the new Health Care law. As part of their Pledge to America, House Republicans promised to act to Repeal the law soon after they take control. And they take charge Wednesday. Given that, Republicans have decided to go with an earlier vote than some had thought though not as soon as this week. Reuters and AP report Punjab Governor Salman Tasee...

Australian city cut off by floods braces for more
In this Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2011 photo,. floodwaters are seen in Depot Hill, Rockhampton, Australia. Floods that have cut air, rail and road links to an Australian coastal city are now threatening its sewage plant, and waters are still expected to rise another few feet before peaking Wednesday. Weary residents of a flooded Australian coastal city braced for water levels to peak Wednesday, as state officials held an emergency meeting to help determine recovery plans for the 200,000 people affected ...

Australia floods cause "catastrophic" damage
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Tue Jan 4, 2011 9:24pm EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Australia's record floods are causing catastrophic damage to infrastructure in the state of Queensland and have forced 75 percent of its Coal Mines, which fuel Asia's steel mills, to grind to a halt, Queensland's premier said on Wednesday. The worst Flooding in decades has affected an area the size of Germany and France, left towns virtual islands in a muddy inland sea, cut major rail and ro...

Australian city cut off by floods braces for more
ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (AP) — Weary residents of an Australian coastal city inundated with floodwaters braced Wednesday for water levels to peak, as state officials held an emergency meeting to help determine recovery plans for the 200,000 people affected by the deluge. More than a week of pounding rains has left much of northeastern Australia under a sea of muddy water that is making its way through river systems toward the ocean. The swollen Fitzroy River was expected to reach its highes...

Australian city hitting flood peak
Flood preparations in the inundated Australian city of Rockhampton are being put to the test as river levels hit their peak. The River Fitzroy which flows through the Queensland city is at 9.2m (30ft) and expected to hit 9.4m, having already swamped hundreds of acres. Officials say more than 400 homes will be flooded and another 4,000 will have water pouring through their gardens. Many residents have already evacuated, some forced to do so by police. More than 100 people spent the night in an e...

Australia Flooding Creates Global Ripple Effect
Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser has called the recent Flooding in Australia a "disaster of biblical proportion." Flood waters have covered an area larger than the state of Texas. The Flooding is also having a global impact on wheat and coal prices. The severe Flooding has turned the city of Rockhampton's streets into raging rivers. "What's happening here in Rockhampton is - well, I don't think we're going to see it again for another 50 or 100 years," said Anna Bligh, Queensland State Premi...

Australian floods submerge towns, coal exports hit
GRACEMERE, Australia (Reuters) - Military Aircraft ferried supplies to an Australian town slowly sinking beneath swollen rivers on Monday, as record Flooding in the country's northeast severed roads and ports, curtailing coal exports and devastating farmland. Floods submerged the Capricorn Highway, the major traffic artery through Queensland state, and poured into homes in the sinking town of Rockhampton, sending furniture and refrigerators cascading down torrents of floodwater. Rockhampton, a ...

Australia floods force evacuations, recede in coal
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Tue Jan 4, 2011 1:46am EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Floodwaters eased in Australia's major Coal Mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated. Floods have submerged or disrupted life across an area the size of France and Germany combined, according to the premier of Queensland state. The floodwaters have br...

Australia floods force evacuations
By Daniel Munoz ROCKHAMPTON, Australia | Tue Jan 4, 2011 2:59am EST ROCKHAMPTON, Australia (Reuters) - Floodwaters eased in Australia's major Coal Mining region on Tuesday, allowing some mines to slowly resume production although most remained idle, as devastating floods affect some 200,000 people and force towns to be evacuated. Floods have submerged or disrupted life across an area the size of France and Germany combined, according to the premier of Queensland state. The floodwaters have br...

Flood victims warned of risk from snakes and crocodiles
Residents of a flood-hit Australian city were warned yesterday not to wade through the waist-high waters because of fears that crocodiles and snakes could be lurking. Floods that have cut air, rail and road links to Rockhampton are now threatening its sewage plant, and waters are still expected to rise another few feet before peaking today. A huge inland sea spawned by more than a week of Heavy Rain across Queensland state is making its way along the Fitzroy river toward the ocean – and Ro...

Australia: Crocs, snakes, and sewage add to floods travel chaos
Floods that have cut air, rail and road links to the Australian coastal city of Rockhampton are now threatening its sewage plant, and waters are still expected to rise another few feet before peaking today. Residents of Rockhampton made their way in boats through waters that reached waist-high in some areas yesterday but were warned not to wade since snakes and crocodiles could be lurking. A huge inland sea spawned by more than a week of Heavy Rain a ADVERTISEMENT cross Queensland state is ma...