As deadly floodwaters reach their peak in Brisbane, residents of Australia’s third-largest city, around the same population of Vancouver, and surrounding area are bracing for the devastating aftermath, the full extent to which will only become apparent once the waters start to recede.
Officials said Thursday the Brisbane River, which runs through the centre of the city, peaked at 4.45 metres. Though well below expected highs, the flooding has already led to at least 13 deaths, billions in damages and displaced tens of thousands of people in the state of Queensland. Many residents face the prospect of not being able to return to their homes for months, while others have been made homeless by the flooding. Some experts predict it will take years to make a full recovery from this natural disaster.
But even after the cleanup is complete, experts say this year’s flooding may hold ominous portents, suggesting this type of catastrophic natural disaster may become more common in the future.
What’s happening on the ground
The rain had been pouring for days on end, a deluge of water that would lead to flash flooding in one region and a major river bursting its banks in another, causing extensive damage and death in its wake. The flooding that has turned a significant chunk of the state of Queensland into a watery disaster zone is already being called one of the worst in the region’s history.
Reports suggest Brisbane experienced more than 460 millimetres of rain fall in the past week. That’s more than the amount of rain Winnipeg typically receives in an entire year, according to Environment Canada. Put another way, the rain that fell in Brisbane is nearly equivalent to six months of rain in Vancouver.
In Brisbane, floodwaters reached to the tops of street signs and carried cars away. It also caused extensive damage to homes, restaurants and businesses.
Most Canadians who haven’t travelled to the tropics likely aren’t familiar with the type of rain that hit the area in recent days, said Gordon McBean, policy chair at the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction at the University of Western Ontario. He described it as a “wall of water” that would soak a person to the skin the moment they stepped outside.
Officials had been warning people in affected areas to leave their homes for days.
So far, 13 people have been confirmed dead as a result of the floods, but close to 100 others are still missing.
An estimated 20,000 homes have already been hit with floodwaters, but officials say that number could rise to 40,000 before waters begin to recede in coming days. Another 120,000 residents of the area are without power and officials said it could be days before it is restored.
More devastation will come from the economic fallout of the floods. The total damages could cost the nation $13 billion (Australian currency), or one per cent of the country’s gross domestic product, Stephen Walters, chief economist for Australia at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Sydney told Bloomberg.
Explaining La Niña
For a weather pattern with a name that means “little girl” in Spanish, La Niña packs a nasty punch. It’s sometimes referred to as El Niño’s bratty little sister, bringing with it cooler ocean temperatures in the east and central parts of the Pacific Ocean, which typically causes higher amounts of rain in countries such as Australia and Indonesia.
