The floods WILL RANK AS ONE OF THE MOST COSTLY NATURAL DISASTERS IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY. More than 30 people have been killed since flooding began last month. In Queensland, nine people are still missing after floods tore through the cities of Toowomba and Grantham.
The impact of the floods was worse than a series of natural disasters in the 1970s and wildfires in 2009 in which 173 people died. Further north, in Queensland, residents of the state capital, Brisbane, have again been putting out sandbags as high tides threaten to inflict more misery on low-lying suburbs. The city is still clearing up after floodwaters two weeks ago reached a peak of 4.46m (14.6ft). The search for the bodies of flood victims is continuing. The Australian navy has been trying to clear the Brisbane River of tonnes of debris including cars, parts of buildings and boats. The floods are expected to pose a threat for another week. Economists estimate that the flooding in Queensland and Victoria will cost at least 3bn Australian dollars (£1.8bn) in lost coal exports and agricultural production. Reconstruction could cost an additional 20bn Australian dollars.
It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.**
Martin Luther King, Jr.
LARGEST QUAKES -
This morning -
5.1 CENTRAL ALASKA
Yesterday -
1/22/11 -
5.0 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.3 NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA
5.6 OFF W COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
5.4 SIMEULUE, INDONESIA
5.0 TONGA REGION
5.0 HOKKAIDO, JAPAN REGION
5.1 CENTRAL PERU
5.3 OFF COAST OF MICHOACAN, MEXICO
1/21/11 -
5.3 HALMAHERA, INDONESIA
5.1 NEAR COAST OF NICARAGUA
5.4 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
5.2 BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G.
5.2 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.2 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
5.1 NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN
MONTANA - Quake might have caused hole on expert ski run near Helena. An expert run at the Great Divide Ski Area near Helena just got a little bit harder, and the resort's owner thinks a weekend earthquake that happened nearby is to blame. He thinks the magnitude 3.7 earthquake that shook the area early Sunday might have collapsed an old mining tunnel called a stope. He says the quake was three miles away from the resort and a fault line runs through a nearby ridge.
A ski patroller coming down one of the slopes Monday morning discovered the opening, which stretches about 10 feet across the fall line and 30 to 40 feet downhill. The hole, which is part of the maze of old underground mines, is between 80 and 100 feet deep. Thousands of stopes litter the Montana landscape, and this one could have been opened by the quake. It's not uncommon for holes to pop up because of the mining history in the area. Officials with the Department of Environmental Quality will probably fill in the opening this spring. In the meantime, the area has been cordoned off.
VOLCANOES -
ICELAND - South Iceland inhabitants fear Katla eruption. Inhabitants of the Vestur-Landeyjar district in south Iceland have sent letters to the constituency’s MPs, the Ministry for Internal Affairs, the Icelandic Road Administration and the Civil Defense Department, calling for a secure evacuation route from possible disastrous flooding caused by an eruption in the sub-glacial volcano Katla.
Katla lies underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap. The only evacuation route from the farms in the area lies along a stretch that would lead towards the potential tidal wave which would likely be created in the case of an eruption. A solution to the potential problem is pressing and that it has been on the municipality’s agenda for a long time.
“When [Eyjafjallajökull] erupted last year people realized the seriousness of the matter. A flood caused by Katla would be many times larger than the one we experienced back then." In spite of there being no signs of an upcoming eruption in Katla, people suspect it is only a matter of time before the volcano bursts.
TROPICAL STORMS -
Cyclone ANTHONY was 189 nmi ENE of Cairns, Australia.
Cyclone WILMA was 1697 nmi NNE of Auckland, New Zealand.
CYCLONES - Tropical Cyclone Wilma formed last night east of Samoa and long range computer models show the remnants of the cyclone are likely to pass northern New Zealand towards the end of this coming working week. Wilma was one of two new cyclones that formed over the weekend in the south-west Pacific as the La Nina enhanced cyclone season gets fully underway.
To the north east of Australia category one cyclone "Anthony" has formed. The cyclone will be of huge concern for Queenslanders despite the initial tracking showing the tropical storm moving away from the coastline and heading out into the Coral Sea. Once Anthony moves into the central Coral Sea it could well deepen further with future computer models showing the cyclone doing a u-turn on Wednesday and taking aim on the Queensland coast as a stronger system by the end of the week.
Wilma may end up reaching New Zealand, although it's certainly still early days. Wilma will tomorrow (Monday) cross American Samoa as a category 1 or 2 cyclone. The long range maps have been picking for several days now that a cyclone would form north east of New Zealand and then track south west towards the upper North Island by Friday or Saturday. Weather data used by WeatherWatch.co.nz currently predicts a 60% chance of rain for Auckland this Saturday, which is high considering how far out the system still is, however forecasters stress it's still too early to know if Wilma will have any serious impact on NZ.
Wilma is currently category 1 status with sustained winds at 65km/h but the Fiji Meteorological Service says the sustained winds will rise closer to 100km/h by midnight tonight. The cyclone will pass directly over Pago Pago, American Samoa, Monday morning.
SEVERE RAIN STORMS, FLOODING, LANDSLIDES -
AUSTRALIA - The storm season has made a terrifying and costly mark already, but Mother Nature has struck again with a front on Wednesday afternoon felling trees, unroofing buildings and pummelling some areas with massive hail. In the Nambucca Valley the storm lasted a mere 15 minutes but left a slew of damage to businesses, homes and bushland. Emergency workers were flat out removing huge gum trees which were ripped from their roots and torn to shreds. The UNPRECEDENTED event was described as a ‘mini cyclone’. “I was down the road when horrendous rain and hail rolled in. A tree flew across and snapped in front of me.”
