Crikey it’s wet

[Old Koreelah]

3 hours ago, nomadpete said:

I once stayed in a pub in central Qld. The town arose down on the floodplain by the creek. After a second flood the townfolk took action and relocated to higher ground. There were old photos on the wall - of a piano wedged high in a tree, and of a steam traction engine towing a two storey pub up the hill. At least they were smart enough to stop rebuilding in silly places.

Pete would that have been Clermont? Visiting a nephew who lives there, I dicovered the town had been relocated after a bad flood. It worked there because they had elevated land nearby, but quite a few towns and villages on broad floodplains don’t.

[Yenn]

They built the towns on the flood plains because they used the occasional flood to enrich the soil. They built houses on stilts so that they could be above the flood level and also they were cooler. now they build the same sort of houses that you see in Melbourne and wonder why they don't work.

[willedoo]

You would think that a lot of towns started from a wayside inn built near a crossing to service bullock teams. In those days of no plumbing where all water had to be carted, it would make sense to build close to the river.

[Marty_d]

Maybe that's the answer.  If you're going to build on a floodplain, your house must be on stilts 1.5x the high water mark of the biggest flood on record.  The cost may be prohibitive, but then again so are $40,000 insurance premiums or losing everything without insurance.

[facthunter]

I would never knowingly live where it floods. but the plumbing to your washing machine could flood the house too.  Nev

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, Marty_d said:

your house must be on stilts 1.5x the high water mark of the biggest flood on record

Ever seen a high level bridge washed away?

[willedoo]

3 hours ago, old man emu said:

Ever seen a high level bridge washed away?

I remember in the 2011 floods in Queensland, high set houses in Grantham floated away. Not enough tie down and bracing to resist the massive force of the floodwater.

[Old Koreelah]

Recently our VRA unit was called to assist the SES with a flood evacuation. It’s been years since I walked in floodwaters. I’d forgotten the force of knee-deep water doing about 3m/sec. Won’t be doing that again. Anything build on a flood plain needs bluddy good foundations.

 

[facthunter]

Silt can be deposited and silt can be removed. Sand dunes can move also and overcome everything in their Path.  Nev

[nomadpete]

The problem is that we fragile narrowminded humans expect the geology to remain constant, for our convenience.

The world doesn't seem to care about us, and it (Gaia) continues its relentless changes in spite of our little structures.

[old man emu]

Although Mankind has had the greatest effect on changing the landscape in a short period over a wide area than Gaia ever did. 

[nomadpete]

Gaia can wait. She has a lot more patience than hoomin beans

[willedoo]

2022 was a good year for rain and I recorded the second highest rainfall year in the thirty four years I've been on this property. In the old inches scale, it was 87".  The third highest year was also 87" in 2010, but 2022 topped it by one milimetre, with 2,213 mm compared to 2,212 mm in 2010. The wettest year I've had here was 115" in 1999. I remember once reading a short history of the district and back in the late 1880's, they had 90" just in January alone.

[facthunter]

This afternoon the heaviest rain I've ever seen fell here and the hail is not yet completely melted 5 hours later. Nev

[facthunter]

And that includes Cairns and PNG. Nev

[onetrack]

Darwin, and the Top End in general, has had a staggering amount of rain recently. In just under three weeks, Darwin airport has recorded close on 600mm of rain.

 

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/202212/html/IDCJDW8014.202212.shtml

[old man emu]

I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, 

Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.

 

Could have only been written by a homesick traveller in a sceptred isle

of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens.

[facthunter]

I was up near Evan's head some years ago  and it received 340 mm in a bit over 24 hours, so I scarpered off south and each town down to TAREE flooded behind me.  The downpour here was quite short (about 20 mins) but I reckon  it was about 80 mm in that time. So loud you could not carry on any form of conversation. I have a fair amount of flood damage and my wife's got Covid so I've a bit to do. Nev

[onetrack]

The Fitzroy River in Northern W.A. is in major flood, and it's reaching near-record levels. It's a bit sad to see the cattle getting washed away, there's bugger-all chance of saving those poor buggers.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-02/major-floods-wild-weather-for-northern-australia/101821962

[red750]

Ahh Melbourne....don't you just love it? The week before Christmas, snow. Then such strong winds and rain they almost had to close the airport. Yesteday, air conditioners on full bore, people passing out in their cars due to the heat. Today, almost pullover weather again.  

[facthunter]

And people in Katherine have it hot all year and sometimes wet as part of it.. A change is as good as a holiday they  say. HOT is over 40.. I don't think we've been THERE, yet. 50's in the Kimberely's  sometimes.  Nev

[red750]

Yeah, well we've been aclimatised to between 14 and 20 degrees for months, so a day of 38.9 out of the blue feels bloody hot.

[onetrack]

Now the Fitzroy River region is facing a major disaster. It's got much, much worse, very quickly. The volumes of water coming out of the Northern Kimberley region from ex-TC Ellie are staggering.

 

The Fitzroy River was at 12.2M in the previous ABC article I linked to. The major flood level for the Fitzroy River is 12.5M. The previous record flood level was 13.95M in 2002.

 

This morning, the Fitzroy River reached a flood level of 15M, and is predicted to hit 15.2M this afternoon.

 

The major bridge on the main (and only) highway through the region is under water, and badly damaged. This means all road freight movements between Broome and further North, to Kununurra and the N.T. will be impossible, until the flood recedes, and the bridge damage can be assessed. It could be a couple of weeks before this happens. I can see a lot of food supplies being air-freighted in, soon.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-03/fitzroy-crossing-record-flooding-central-kimberley-fitzroy-river/101823554

[onetrack]

Well, since I posted the above, the flooding of the Fitzroy River has gone from much worse, to absolutely disastrous. The Fitzroy peaked at 15.9M today, an all-time record, and no-one can recall a flood in the Kimberley like this, in living memory. Watch the news video.

 

https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/weather/danger-as-flood-hits-kimberley-communities-c-9345439

 

 

[facthunter]

That LOW has been slowly moving down the coast,  just pouring water inland. It could keep doing it for a while yet.  Nev