Floods in Australia

A series of floods have been affecting north-eastern Australia, primarily in the state of Queensland, since December 2010. The floods have forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities with at least 22 towns and over 200,000 people affected. Damage initially was estimated at around £650m. This estimate was later revised up to AU$5bn.

Vast areas of Southern and Central Queensland were affected by the flood. About 300 roads were closed, including nine major highways. Coal railway lines were closed and numerous mine sites flooded. The floods have qlso had an economic impact, by boosting fruit and vegetable prices as a result of damadged crops.

The floods were a result of heavy precipitation caused by Tropical Cyclone Tasha that combined with a trough (an elongated region of relatively low atmospheric pressure) during the peak of a La Niña event. The 2010 La Niña weather pattern, which brings wetter conditions to eastern Australia, is the strongest since 1973. Isolated flooding started across parts of the state in early December. On 24 December a monsoonal trough crossed the coast from the Coral Sea, bringing torrential rain that fell from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Gold Coast. By 28 December the worst of the rain had passed. The conditions also led to a large influx of snakes, as well as some crocodiles.