Earth News from TerraDaily.com
CORRECTED: Australia says flood recovery will take time
Sydney, Feb 4 (AFP) Feb 04, 2025
Mud-brown floodwaters have swamped scores of homes and caused "incredible" damage in eastern Australia, authorities said Tuesday, warning of a long-haul recovery ahead.

Storms dumped more than 1.5 metres (59 inches) of rain in parts of Queensland in the past week, engulfing homes, businesses and roads, officials said.

"The devastation is quite frankly, incredible," the state's premier, David Crisafulli, told a news conference.

"There are people who have been inundated at home, at their businesses and in their farms."

The city of Townsville, a popular tourism destination by the Great Barrier Reef, had "dodged a bullet" as flood warnings were downgraded overnight, he said.

Townsville residents were allowed to return to their homes Tuesday but should remain alert for further evacuation orders, officials said.

Further north in Ingham, a rural town of about 4,500 people, the waters had likely flooded "well north" of 100 homes, the premier said in a separate interview with national broadcaster ABC

"This is going to be a recovery that doesn't go for a week or a month, this is going to take some time," Crisafulli said.

A 63-year-old woman was killed in Ingham on Sunday after the rescue boat she was being carried in struck a tree and capsized, officials said -- the only confirmed death in the floods.

Many rural communities were isolated by floodwaters, which cut off roads and swept away part of a bridge on the state's main coastal Bruce Highway.

Almost 8,000 properties were without power across north Queensland, Ergon Energy said, with no timeframe given for when electricity would be restored.

As global temperatures rise because of climate change, scientists have warned that heatwaves and other extreme weather events, such as severe flooding, droughts and wildfires, will become more frequent and more intense.





Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Ariane 6 to deliver inaugural Galileo 2nd Gen satellites as European industry backs Arianespace
Momentus to conduct multi sensor rendezvous trial with US Air Force
Blue Origin mission simulates moon gravity

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Google pledge against using AI for weapons vanishes
MIT engineers help multirobot systems stay in the safety zone
Scientists' conference kicks off global AI summit in Paris

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
US-Japan summit: what to expect
Trump calls for work on new Iran nuclear deal to begin 'immediately'
U.S. Navy intercepted test drone with HELIOS directed-energy weapon

24/7 News Coverage
Fresh quake barrage hits Greek island Santorini
Pain, anger as Turkey marks two years since quake disaster
January sets 'surprising' heat record: EU monitor


ADVERTISEMENT



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.