Extreme Australian flood.

Why was this thread titled 'extreme' floods?

It was worse in Australia in '74.

Thailand, which nobody has mentioned, had the worst floods ever, in unexpected areas, this year. The floods in Thailand also have a time repetition, markedly 60 years.

Brisbane, and Queensland, know the history.

If this has become a flood debate, my say is that nothing unusual is happening.

It is when it happens in a 1st world country that outrage and cries flood. Sod the 3rd world countries in these situations, except for the previous 5 or 6 caring posters who recognise this isn't in a single spot??

New Orleans was almost fully destroyed in 1849, and thousands of homes, most at that time, were destroyed as a result of Mississippi overflow - hence, nothing new. (Hurricane Katrina did most of the killing, unfortunately, in 2005)

I hear of few deaths in Brisbane, but those who have passed I do wish may their God be with them.

Thailand lost 122 people in this year's flooding, but the worst was that "6 million" (yes, six million) people lost their homes. I saw no thread about that here, and neither did I want to create one.

6 million homes actually lost, versus a threat of 20,000 in Oz?

I do think there are affects of global warming. My wife and I revisited our honeymoon beach. The beach, 2 years ago had a 50m walk to water. This year we had 10m, at low tide. The banks had sand bags, and I wondered why. At 6pm, high tide, in the Gulf of Thailand!, the water was crashing against the bags, and there was no beach.

This would indicate that the water levels in the Gulf of Thailand must have risen by at least by 2 feet or so. I haven't googled that yet, so if you know more already I'm sorry, and enlighten me please. Something is definitely changing in rising water levels globally, to cause a Gulf to rise dramatically.

I offer thoughts to all people lost globally through flooding.

I didn't refer to India 2010, as I talk from experiences closer to home.

I guess you all saw that via the media too.

-m.

Originally posted by mikelom
Why was this thread titled 'extreme' floods?

It was worse in Australia in '74.

Thailand, which nobody has mentioned, had the worst floods ever, in unexpected areas, this year. The floods in Thailand also have a time repetition, markedly 60 years.

Brisbane, and Queensland, know the history.

If this has become a flood debate, my say is that nothing ...[text shortened]... from experiences closer to home.

I guess you all saw that via the media too.

-m.

Extreme means out at the edge of the normal range. Sorry I disagree with you that this is a "usual" flood. It isn't, and will be listed with the big and destructive ones for Queensland. It is not extreme as far as loss of life is concerned and thankfully, but that is not the only measure of extreme. And it is not a "numbers dead" contest anyway.

Queensland is not Thailand, or New Orleans, but should we (particularly Australians) somehow feel less for so many here that are shoved into the hard misery and loss because it is not "big enough" ?

I know Queensland well, and remember the '74 floods. But some towns effected by this rapid and huge downpour have never had a flood before, let alone one that wipes out half the town and some of the people living there. The destruction is enormous, again, as it is everywhere it floods.
Does one need to keep inanely making this wider reference all the time?

Are you implying that on any comment on any global event, it should be accompanied by a list of acknowledgement of other historic events to somehow superficially "prove" your compassion or dissipate some sort of guilt?

Much (not all) of the media is open game as far as I am concerned, for the reasons you outline, (except when local media are focussed on their own local current crisis) but please don't clothe any of our posters with guilt because they haven't mentioned the other areas of tragedy. They are commenting on this one for the moment, that's all. Go easy.
I expect most of our posters had feelings of concern and compassion for them too at the time of their crisis, some much bigger in death toll and social disruption. Do we only comment or feel compassion when something is "big" or "bigger" than something else?

And it is mentioned in the Science forum rather than the Debates forum because of another added fact of increasing extreme weather events, of which I believe this was one. Thanks for reminding us of the others that are indicators, as well as sad (and yes, larger) global tragedies.

Originally posted by flexmore
If you look at
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deadliest_floods>
then it seems the 5 deadliest floods were all in China - mostly about 70 years ago.
(Not sure why the Indonesian tsunami is not incuded there somewhere)

The number of deaths is of course not a true measure of climate change.

I guess the Indonesian tsunami isn't mentioned because it wasn't a weather related flooding.
China has had huge floods and some in recent seasons as I remember.

The physics of flood and its forces would be pretty impressive. Enormous destruction mass and power involved.

Extreme is a relative term. How something effects things in its specific context is one measure.
Here are a few facts of the Queensland flood to date. If it isn't as big as others I apologise, but its pretty damn big for those caught up in it.
>>>
"Mr Swan urged Australians to give to the appeal ''because in economic terms the scale of this disaster is probably the largest in Australia's history''.

Ms Bligh said 500,000 square kilometres of the state, including 86 towns and cities, had been affected and that 2 million people were living in areas declared disaster zones.

Governments would have to pay billions of dollars to replace destroyed infrastructure, she said. Warning residents that many of their homes would be uninhabitable for weeks, months or even years, Ms Bligh said (sic)"
***
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/qld-floods-disaster-worst-in-history-20110116-19sja.html

Just two more days of teorrential rain and the Wivenhoe dam would've overflown and the disater would've taken on much huger unknown proportions. The week of sushine came at exactly the right time. The dam was 190% full and was on the brink of releasing alll that water staright into Brisbane with no controls.
As we enter our (usual) wet season here in Queensland, it is not out of the question that this event may repeat itslef, within the next few weeks or months!

Originally posted by karoly aczel
Just two more days of teorrential rain and the Wivenhoe dam would've overflown and the disater would've taken on much huger unknown proportions. The week of sushine came at exactly the right time. The dam was 190% full and was on the brink of releasing alll that water staright into Brisbane with no controls.
As we enter our (usual) wet season here in Q ...[text shortened]... ot out of the question that this event may repeat itslef, within the next few weeks or months!

Yep, Karoly, a real worry. BTW, you copped any of it yet?

Just another instance of strange weather patterns. Last year in we were hitting 46+ degrees C. and disastrous bushfires, today, middle of January (usually very hot), its barely 20 degrees C. and historical flooding in NW Victoria (same rain source as Queensland)! Anyone here can now tell you, its not at all the same old, same old, anymore. Crazy swings. Probably be searingly hot soon.

I am not entering observations for some "competition of hugest" either - its the local major weather changes that is the context of comment. I'd be interested in similar observations of extreme swings in weather patterns from elsewhere, globally.

Originally posted by mikelom
This would indicate that the water levels in the Gulf of Thailand must have risen by at least by 2 feet or so. I haven't googled that yet, so if you know more already I'm sorry, and enlighten me please. Something is definitely changing in rising water levels globally, to cause a Gulf to rise dramatically.

Continents also rise and sink. I don't think sea levels have risen by 2 feet in the period you mention, though it is rising, and how fast it rises is partly dependent on location (due to ocean currents, local gravity etc.)
It is most likely the land is sinking at that point, or being eroded. Were your measurements made on sand, or on rocks (that didn't change), or houses?

Originally posted by Taoman
Yep, Karoly, a real worry. BTW, you copped any of it yet?

Just my backyard. I'm up on the Redcliffe Peninisula here, so we're on pretty high ground, though the roads are cut off.

Originally posted by Taoman
Just another instance of strange weather patterns. Last year in we were hitting 46+ degrees C. and disastrous bushfires, today, middle of January (usually very hot), its barely 20 degrees C. and historical flooding in NW Victoria (same rain source as Queensland)! Anyone here can now tell you, its not at all the same old, same old, anymore. Crazy swings. Prob ...[text shortened]... ested in similar observations of extreme swings in weather patterns from elsewhere, globally.

10 days ago it was -10* in Hungary , now its 10-15+