Where is Townsville?

[pmccarthy]

I subscribe to the MELBOURNE Age which this morning has no mention of Townsville. Is Townsville in Australia? My wife reads the Australian, which tells her that Townsville is in the middle of an unprecedented disaster. The Age manages all sorts of stories about gay people on trams and good coverage of fires in Victoria but not a mention of Townsville. I repeat, not a mention!

 

 

[nomadpete]

I watched the news last night. It looks like Townsville is a little town just off the coast of Queensland.

 

A bit like Magnetic Island but without the hills

 

 

[Bruce]

Once in Melbourne I went to buy a paper with enough money to buy an Adelaide Advertiser. Alas it wasn't enough for a Melbourne paper, and when I complained, the girl said " well nothing much happens in Adelaide so of course its cheaper"

 

 

[facthunter]

Townsville......Slightly less rain last night than expected. Two cops rescued from trees after their vehicle washed away. Some recently developed areas were swamps before they grew apartments on them. It's a wetter than normal wet season so far.. Nev

 

 

[Cosmick]

Many years ago when working in a Bank in Brisbane I was asked by our Melbourne Office to quickly jump in a car and resolve an issue with a client in Cairns.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

But they did give you 5 days to resolve the issue, didn't they?

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

On a different note, very sad for the residents who have not a town called Aquarius... Wonder how much can be salvaged, if anything?

 

 

[storchy neil]

as at 0900 hrs this morning my sister who lives 3 klm from the weir gates does not have a flood problem but a rain problem gutters on the house cant handle the rain neil

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I heard Townsville had 1 metre of rain in 24 hours.. That's insane. @storchy neil - I hope your sister only has a bit of painting to do after the wet season is done.

 

 

[facthunter]

400 MM is not a metre. I haven't heard of figures like 1 metre. At the moment the dumping of water from the dam is having the greatest effect on the flooding but it's done for the safety of the dam structure. Normally, Townsville is not a high rainfall area. The desert almost meets the sea there. Nev

 

 

[red750]

I haven't heard of figures like 1 metre.

Premier Alphabet said it was over a metre in the last week.

 

 

[red750]

Many years ago when working in a Bank in Brisbane I was asked by our Melbourne Office to quickly jump in a car and resolve an issue with a client in Cairns.

I worked for a small software company (a staff of 8), based in Mitcham, Vic, in 1993. I was sent to install their software package at the Bundaberg Sugar Refinery. A round trip involving 5 flights in one day. Paid for by Bundy Sugar. The install took less than 30 minutes.

 

 

[Yenn]

The way things have been going Townsville may well be off the Qld coast. As others have said it is normally a dry place. I lived there in 1969 and it sure was dry, but no more so than other places in Qld. If I was there no I would be under water. I hear they are considering re opening the airport.

 

When it all settles down there will be lots of complaints about BOM not saying it was going to be severe rainfall. Rather like other places saying BOM predicted severe weather that didn't happen and ruined their tourist trade.

 

For once I think the use of the term un precedented can apply to this weather.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Maybe I misheard the period of time the 1 metre of rainfall fell on Townsville - was driving to London, listening to Triple M (radio stations here suck)..

 

 

[facthunter]

It's dry compared to other places ON THE COAST to the North and the south. it always was.. (last 50-60 years or so at least.)

 

300 to 400 mm per day is the sort of thing they are getting. That's certainly enough to call it a big wet. If the tropical low is stationary it can just keep happening.. It doesn't run out of water if the conditions stay right for it . In fact the extra moisture on the land areas perpetuates it.The system is over to Mt ISA and the gulf and the top of Cape York. It's picking up water from the Gulf and the Coral sea..Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

It's not until you understand what X mm of rain means that you get an idea of the volume of water it represents.

 

If you take a square of surface one metre by one metre and drop 10 mm of rain on it, you would have dropped 10 litres of water. Over one square kilometre, that's ten million litres.

 

So if you get one metre of rain (1000 mm), that's 1,000,000,000 litres of water per Square kilometre. The City of Townsville has an area of 693 sq kms.

 

 

[facthunter]

It's easier to imagine a uniform layer of water over the entire surface. Normal annual rainfalls in usually lived in (non desert) areas have annual rainfall of 800 -1200 mm . You need more in tropical regions and it takes no regard of seasons (wet and dry) where you have an extreme variation situation. re rain but not temp (as much). . If you are in inches divide by 25.. Wettest places on the earth were getting "precipitation rates" over 190 inches per annum. Nev

 

 

[Cosmick]

Townsville is/was a very dry city, many locals have water bores of which number there is no record. Ross River Dam was down to 15% in 2016. Several Water Bore Drilling Businesses advertise in the area. In contrast Tully, 175km up the road has the highest annual rainfall in Aus.

 

 

[facthunter]

Agree with that except I think SW Tasmania had the rainfall record. They DO like to be part of Australia occasionally. Nev

 

 

[storchy neil]

sisters still not in trouble but me brother inlaw reconds that the crocs yabbies and fish are cause sis was in bicinie and they left

 

now believe this shit for brain paper has head line that the weir gates were opened to cause maximum damage to Townsville at 250% capacity off the dam why would you not open the gates

 

I have a feeling that when the water reaches the height it did the gates open as a saftey measure neil

 

 

[spacesailor]

IF opened earlier, Surly less damage would be expected.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Litespeed]

As soon as the dam started rising, they should have realised it would keep coming and started to release water.

 

To do anything else is pure negligence.

 

 

[Bruce]

You would use the gates to spread out the peak as much as you could. This would mean not opening them fully all at the same time.

 

 

[facthunter]

Nearly an impossible task to get right. Whatever is done, someone will think it's the wrong thing. If it never overflows it's done the flood mitigation thing. Once it's full it's as if it's not there unless there's a safety element, (structural). The Hume Weir near Albury became unsafe a few years ago. If these things let go it's a catastrophe, you wouldn't want to think about. It's pretty easy to criticise decisions until you must make them yourself and most of us are not aware of the precise situation these people are addressing. The Papers sell "sensation" for profit. Truth is not allowed to get in the way of a GOOD Story, as you will find out when you are involved with something that "Makes the Headlines" the MAKES has a double meaning. .Nev

 

 

[spacesailor]

It's Not the decision to open the gates but the time.

 

IF opened the day (or more) before, it would have been a lesser Flood, as it was opened too late & too much, ( the Dam hight going down ).

 

The Hight of the dam could be adjusted according to Keeping the Hight stationery, & not lowering that vast expanse of water.

 

I',m not there so only going on news coverage.

 

spacesailor