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Articles on Queensland floods 2013

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Heat, floods and fire: it’s not just weather. timswinson.com

Angry summer shaped by a shifting climate

The hottest summer on record. The hottest month on record. The hottest day ever recorded for the whole of Australia. Heatwaves, bushfires, record rainfall and floods – extreme events across the land. This…
South East Queensland’s grid of water treatment plants are meant to drought proof the region, but could help in floods too. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

How ‘drought infrastructure’ can help us get through floods

Over the last six years, there have been major investments made in “climate independent” water supplies and other measures to help “drought-proof” most of Australia’s capital cities. These have included…
The government reacted swiftly last week to help Queensland flood victims, but the focus on “replacement” may have deleterious economic consequences for regional communities. AAP

Replacing what we’ve lost may shortchange Queenslanders

With predictions for more frequent and severe natural disasters in the future, it is imperative that we look further than the replacement of our physical infrastructure when rebuilding regional communities…
Damp conditions are linked to respiratory problems, but mould may not be the cause. AAP/Kym Agius

Queenslanders at risk from mould as flood clean-up continues

The floods have come and gone in Queensland and in their wake are heartbreak, devastation and months, if not years, of clean-up and rebuilding. Those affected now face a hidden risk to their health from…
Adapting to future disasters is complicated and expensive, but might be more cost-effective than endless clean-ups. AAP Image/Paul Beutel

Clean-up or adaptation? ‘Disaster-proofing’ Queensland

Following several years of devastation in Queensland, the state’s premier believes it’s time to “flood and disaster proof” as many towns and communities as possible. In Mr Newman’s words: “We can’t accept…
Australia’s disaster management policies are in need of reform. But is a permanent disaster fund the right way to go about it? AAP

It’s time to talk about disaster recovery

Disasters are a fact of life. We need to talk about them. Floods, fires, earthquakes and other misadventures will happen in spite of our best plans. Their impact will sometimes be severe simply because…
Many people flooded out in 2011 went back and suffered the same fate in 2013.

Why move back? Floods and the difficulty of relocation

The 2013 floods show a striking resemblance to the weather system that generated the 2011 floods. A small cyclone in North Queensland (Tasha in 2010, Oswald in 2013) moved down the east coast bringing…
Australia’s transport planners are better than most at dealing with disasters. AAP Image/Supplied by SES, Samantha Cantwell

Keeping Queensland moving: transport in a flood crisis

Transport access is essential for people to get to the goods and services they need in daily life. Never is that basic access more appreciated, and more desired, than when it’s taken away from us, such…
If we are plucking people from their roofs, we’re not communicating about disasters properly. AAP/AGL Action Rescue Helicopter

Planning for floods and fires now the recipe for disaster has changed

The floods in Queensland and Northern New South Wales and the extensive January bushfires which caused destruction across Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales confirm that we need to rethink how we plan…
How prepared can we be for record floods? AAP Image/Dan Peled

Queensland floods: motivation to get flood planning right

Parts of Queensland and New South Wales have big floods again with people being evacuated, properties flooded and tragically some fatalities. We have heard reports of hundreds of millimetres of rainfall…
Cost was one of the reasons why Queenslanders remained uninsured for flood damage but there were other surprising factors. AAP

Why are so many Queenslanders still without flood insurance?

Queensland towns and suburbs have been hit by floods again. Flooding is not a rare event here and most residents are not surprised by the recurrence of floods. But the memory of the 2011 floods is still…

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