Fires and floods in Australia

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If climate change isn’t for real then something very strange is going on. Lightning strikes before Christmas were responsible for starting a number of fires in the Tasmanian highlands. Normally these have little impact as the vegetation is too moist for fires to take a real hold. However, a very dry January resulted in intense fires and now over 190,000 hectares have been burnt. Many residents have been forced to seek shelter at evacuation centres. Authorities are hoping that the rain expected over the next few days will be enough, or in the right areas, to provide some relief. Meanwhile, in the Townsville region in Queensland, the worst floods in history have created a catastrophic nightmare. The Ross River Dam was holding 244% of its safe capacity before authorities were forced to open the flood-gates. This means almost 2,000 cubic metres of water per second is flowing into the river. And the rain continues to fall. Totals of 150mm to 200mm (5.9 inches to 7.8 inches) are forecast with some areas expected to get up to 300mm (11.8 inches). Many areas have already received more than their annual average. Damaging winds and thunderstorms are forecast with the possible development of a tornado. Over 80,000 homes are expected to be inundated over the next few days. Emergency crews were sent home as the risk to the teams was too great. Touch wood but so far such horrible disasters have avoided our little corner of the world. The photo is from Geeveston in Tasmania, one of the towns under threat at the moment.