1301.0 - Yearbook Complete, 2008 1301.0 - Yearbook Complete, 2008 Year Book Australia 2008: Media story leads (Media Release) FEATURE ARTICLE 4: NATURAL DISASTERS IN AUSTRALIA 'Mother Earth can seem like an uncaring planet. The impact of geohazards on our lives and economy is very great, and will never go away. Every year floods, tsunamis, severe storms, drought, wildfires, volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides and subsidence claim thousands of lives, injure thousands more, devastate homes and destroy livelyhoods'. International Union of Geological Science (IUGS), last viewed August 2007, < . The following survey of natural disasters occurring within Australia since the late-19th century, first published in the article A hundred years of science and service - Australian meteorology through the twentieth century in Year Book Australia 2001, has been expanded and updated. Federation drought 1895-1902 The five years preceding Federation had been intermittently dry over most of the country.

Very dry conditions set in across eastern Australia during the spring of 1901, and became entrenched over the following months. As the drought worsened, enormous sheep and cattle losses were reported from Queensland, and many rivers dried up. The Darling River at Bourke virtually ran dry, while Murray River towns such as Mildura, Balranald and Deniliquin - at that time dependent on the river for transport - suffered badly. The Australian wheat crop was all but lost. Rain in December 1902 brought temporary relief, with a more substantial break in autumn 1903. The long drought and its severe climax in 1902 had devastated stock numbers, and began focusing attention on planning for irrigation, especially in the three states through which the Murray River flows. Cyclone - Mackay - January 1918 The Mackay Cyclone was the first of two cyclones to inflict heavy damage on significant population centres in northern Queensland during early 1918. Moving in from the Coral Sea late on 20 January, its devastating winds terrified residents as buildings disintegrated, gas and water supplies failed, and roofing iron scythed though the air.

A storm surge inundated the town around 5.00 am, with large waves reportedly breaking in the centre of Mackay. Phenomenal rainfall - 1,411 millimetres (mm) in three days at Mackay Post Office - generated the worst flooding in Mackay's history. In total, 30 people lost their lives, mainly in Mackay and Rockhampton. Severe storm clouds approach yacht club, 2000 – courtesy Bureau of Meteorology. Floods - north-eastern Tasmania - April 1929 Although north-eastern Tasmania's climate is normally relatively benign, it is prone to intense rainfall over short periods. The worst event of the 20th century occurred in April 1929, when 22 people died. Rain commenced late on 3 April and, in three days, up to 500 mm fell over the high country of the north-east, and over a smaller area south of Burnie and Ulverstone. The Briseis Dam on the Cascade River crumbled, and the resulting torrent, carrying thousands of tons of trees, rocks and gravel, overwhelmed houses and offices, with 14 deaths.

Over 1,000 houses in Launceston were inundated, and most other north coastal rivers were heavily flooded. Scenes of devastation - to man-made structures and natural features - were widespread across northern Tasmania. Bushfire - Victoria - Black Friday, January 1939 Following an exceptionally dry winter and spring, vegetation over most of Victoria was in an extremely hazardous condition by January 1939. Heatwave conditions from early in the second week of January saw many large fires break out, especially on the 10th when Melbourne registered a maximum of 44.7 degrees Celsius (oC). Despite milder conditions in southern Victoria on the 11th and 12th, the fires could not be extinguished and 21 people died. On the 13th the onset of strong and even hotter winds (Melbourne a record 45.6oC) coalesced these fires into a sea of flame. Several timber towns were burnt to the ground, extensive tracts of mountain forest (including Melbourne's main catchment area) were incinerated, and 50 more people died, many trapped in timber mills.

In the ensuing Royal Commission, many changes to rural fire fighting practices in Victoria were proposed, and eventually implemented. Record floods - New South Wales - February 1955 The Hunter Valley floods of late February 1955 have, in many people's minds, come to symbolise flooding in Australia. A monsoon depression moving south from Queensland deposited up to 250 mm of rain in 24 hours over the already-saturated Hunter region. The Hunter, and several west-flowing rivers, swiftly rose to record levels, drowning the surrounding country. In East Maitland, water completely submerged houses, and 15,000 people were evacuated. It was a similar story throughout the Hunter, Macquarie, Namoi and Gwydir River Valleys, with houses destroyed, metres of flood waters in the streets, and many thousands of stock drowned. In all, 14 people died, and damage to bridges, roads, railways and telephone lines took months to repair. This event was the most spectacular of many heavy rain episodes over eastern Australia between late-1954 and the end of 1956.

Fire and storm - south-west Western Australia - 1961, 1978 Perhaps Western Australia's worst bushfire disaster - the Dwellingup fires - occurred in January 1961. An intense cyclone off the north-west coast led to five days (20-24 January) of gusty winds and 40oC temperatures over the lower south-west. Fires, many started by lightning, burnt uncontrolled through this period. Strong north-west winds on the 24th drove the fires southward, destroying the township of Dwellingup, and many houses in other small settlements. Fortunately there was no loss of human life. A similar event occurred in early April 1978, when Cyclone Alby swept past the south-west of Western Australia, generating severe gales (gusts to 150 kilometres per hour (km/h)) between Kalbarri and Albany, and causing widespread damage and coastal (storm surge) flooding, as well as raising large dust clouds. Over 360 separate fires flared, more than 114,000 hectares (ha) of forest and farmland were burned, and many buildings and homes destroyed.

Bushfire - southern Tasmania - Black Tuesday, February 1967 On Tuesday 7 February 1967, 110 fires fanned by 80 km/h winds ravaged southern Tasmania, burning within a 56 km radius of Hobart and reaching to within 2 km of central Hobart. Over the four days leading up to the fires, a period of extreme temperature (around 40oC) and low humidity was experienced. The fire index of 96 on the day of the fire was one of the highest readings on record and there were winds of up to 65 knots. A wet spring had produced thick, lush vegetation, which became very dry in the three months prior to the disaster, resulting from the warm temperatures that prevailed. The main vegetation types found in this area were rainforest and eucalypt forest as well as cleared land. There were 62 deaths, 900 injuries and over 7,000 people made homeless. The fires killed 500 horses, 1,350 cattle, 60,000 sheep, 24,000 chickens, 600 pigs, and other animals.

Around 3,000 buildings - 1,293 homes, 128 major buildings including factories, churches, schools and post offices - 80 bridges, and 1,500 vehicles were destroyed. In total, 5,400 km of farm fences and 265,000 ha were burnt, including orchards - 20% of Tasmania's fruit crop - other crops, pastures and forests. The total estimated cost of the fires at the time was approximately $45 million (m) and insurance loss was $14m. Earthquake - Meckering - October 1968 Although the Meckering earthquake was not the largest in Western Australia's history, it was certainly the most significant in terms of damage done (over $5m) and cultural upheaval. At 10.59 am, on 14 October 1968, the small wheat-belt town of Meckering, about 130 km east of Perth, was destroyed by an earthquake. From the population of approximately 240 people, 20 were injured, but incredibly, no one was killed.

The earthquake was felt throughout the southern half of the state and caused damage in the surrounding townships, particularly York and Northam, and in the Perth metropolitan area. It measured 6.9, making it one of the largest recorded seismic events in Australian history. The earthquake, and its aftershocks, were accompanied by surface faulting extending over an area of 200 square kilometres (sq km). Some of the surface faulting - up to 3 metres high and nearly 40 km long - is still visible today. The Meckering Fault was the first tectonic ground breakage to be recorded in Australia. Meckering earthquake 1968 Meckering earthquake 1968 Floods - Brisbane - January 1974 Following a very wet 1973, the month of January 1974 featured probably the biggest continent-wide drenching since European settlement, with vast areas of the country inundated. In Brisbane, preceding heavy rain had already produced some flooding when, on 24 January, Cyclone Wanda came ashore north of the city. Wanda inflicted relatively little wind damage, but produced record rains over the Australia Day weekend.

In three days, Brisbane received 580 mm, with much higher falls over river catchments near the city (1,300 mm in five days at Mt Glorious). Many houses bordering rivers and creeks were washed away as rivers rose to their highest levels since the disastrous 1893 floods. The rising waters trapped people in homes and offices causing many heroic rescue attempts but unfortunately 14 people died. Brisbane floods 1974. Cyclone Tracy - Darwin - December 1974 The year 1974 started with Cyclone Wanda bringing devastating floods to Brisbane, and ended with Darwin devastated by Cyclone Tracy. Small but compact by world standards, Tracy packed unusually strong winds (gusts to 217 km/h at Darwin Airport before the recorder failed). Tracy moved in from the Arafura Sea, skirted Bathurst Island, then, swinging sharply south, struck Darwin early on Christmas Day. Good warnings had been issued, but the combination of public indifference (it was Christmas and no severe cyclone had affected Darwin for years), extremely fierce winds, and the loose design of many buildings at that time, led to wholesale destruction.

Most buildings were totally destroyed or badly damaged and 65 people died. Much of the remaining population was swiftly evacuated. In the wake of Tracy, much more attention was given to building codes and other aspects of disaster planning. Darwin after Cyclone Tracy, December 1974. The 1982-83 drought In terms of short-term rainfall deficiencies (up to one year) and their impacts, the 1982-83 drought was probably Australia's worst in the 20th century. It started in autumn 1982, with severe rainfall deficiencies over eastern Australia exacerbated by frequent sharp frosts in June and July. Dry conditions persisted, and by year's end extensive areas of eastern Australia had record or near-record low April to December rainfall. The upper Murrumbidgee River became a chain of waterholes. Reservoirs throughout the south-east fell to levels unknown for many years. The northern Australian wet season failed, with record low summer rain in some areas. In February 1983, dust storms and devastating fires swept the south-eastern States, before heavy rain in late March broke the drought.

In all, this drought caused losses in excess of $3 billion (b), and first brought into public prominence the link between El Ni�o and Australian drought. Dust storm - Melbourne - February 1983 Late on the morning of 8 February 1983 a strong, but dry, cold front began crossing Victoria, preceded by hot, gusty northerly winds. The loose topsoil in the Mallee and Wimmera was quickly picked up by the wind, and as the front moved east, the soil collected into a large cloud oriented along the line of a cool change. At Horsham, in western Victoria, raised dust could be seen by 11.00 am; by noon it had obscured the sky. In Melbourne, the temperature rose quickly as the north wind strengthened, and by 2.25 pm it had reached 43.2oC, a record February maximum. A short time later, a spectacular reddish-brown cloud could be seen advancing on the city, reaching Melbourne just before 3.00 pm. It was accompanied by a rapid temperature drop, and a squally wind change strong enough to uproot trees and unroof about 50 houses.

Visibility plunged to 100 metres. The worst of the dust storm was over by 4.00 pm, when the wind speed dropped rapidly. At its height, the dust storm extended across the entire width of Victoria. The dust cloud was up to 320 metres deep when it struck Melbourne, but in other areas extended thousands of metres into the atmosphere. It was estimated that about 50,000 tonnes of topsoil were stripped from the Mallee - about a fifth was dumped on the city - leaving the ground bare, and exacerbating the effects of the drought. Open water channels in the north-west were clogged with sand and dirt. Dust storm, Melbourne, February 1983 – courtesy Trevor Farrar, Bureau of Meteorology. Bushfire - South Australia, Victoria - Ash Wednesday, February 1983 The severe drought over eastern Australia in 1982 led to tinder dry conditions throughout the grasslands and forests of south-eastern Australia. On 16 February 1983, near-gale force northerly winds, and temperatures well over 40oC drove huge fires (many started by arsonists) across Victoria and south-eastern South Australia.

Nearly 2,500 houses were destroyed and 75 people died (47 in Victoria and 28 in South Australia). The worst affected areas were Victoria's Dandenong Ranges and the Macedon area, and South Australia's Mt Lofty Ranges, all scenic areas with considerable residential populations. Forests in south-eastern South Australia and Victoria's Otway Ranges were incinerated. Most deaths occurred in the hour following the cool change, when strong, gusty westerly winds turned long, narrow corridors of flame into wide fronts. The enquiry that followed led to many changes in fire weather briefing procedures, most notably the provision for regular updates on the progress of wind changes. Fire in the Penola Forest (South Australia), Ash Wednesday, February 1983. Tropical cyclones - Port Hedland The Pilbara coast in Western Australia experiences more cyclones than any other part of Australia. Since 1910 there have been 48 cyclones that have caused gale-force winds at Port Hedland. On average this equates to about one every two years. About half of these cyclones have an impact equivalent to a category 1 cyclone.

Six of these, January 1939, March 1942, Cyclone Joan in December 1975, Cyclone Leo in March 1977, Cyclone Dean in February 1980, and Cyclone Connie in January 1987 caused very destructive wind gusts in excess of 170 km/h. Along the Pilbara coast the cyclone season runs from mid-December to April peaking in February. The strongest wind gust recorded at Port Hedland during a cyclone is 208 km/h during Cyclone Joan (1975). Earthquake - Newcastle - December 1989 At 10.27 am on Thursday 28 December 1989, the city of Newcastle, New South Wales was devastated by a moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.6. The epicentre, approximately 15 km south-east of the Newcastle central business district, was 10-12 km deep within the crust under Boolaroo, an outer suburb of Lake Macquarie.

The effects were felt over an area of about 200,000 sq km, with isolated reports of movement from up to 800 km from Newcastle. An aftershock, measuring 2.1, was recorded the following day. The earthquake claimed 13 lives and 160 people were hospitalised. Nine people died at the Newcastle Workers Club; three people were killed in Beaumont Street, Hamilton and one person died of shock. Damage to buildings and facilities, totalling about $4b, occurred within a 9,000 sq km region. Approximately 50,000 buildings sustained damage, including 40,000 homes, affecting 300,000 people and leaving 1,000 homeless. A further 300 buildings were demolished. Some of the buildings in Newcastle dated back to the 1860s, most of them were either unreinforced masonry (URM) or had URM components such as chimneys, walls, verandahs or access stairs.

Over the years, pollutants had caused widespread corrosion of steel ties in homes and other buildings, and in the suspension ties of awnings and parapets, where they existed. As a result all such buildings were highly vulnerable to horizontal shaking. Additionally, foundation soils in the Newcastle area played a key role. In the inner parts of the city these were alluvium, some of it dredged from the Hunter River, other parts were underlain by former courses of the river now filled either naturally over time or for housing developments. Ground shaking on sedimentary layers may be amplified relative to that on bedrock at frequencies which correspond to the natural frequencies of buildings so damage is exacerbated. Landslide - Thredbo - July 1997 At 11.35 pm on Wednesday 30 July 1997, 2,000 cubic metres of mud and rock shifted below the Alpine Way, a main road above the village of Thredbo in the New South Wales Alpine Region. The slide travelled down the slope taking with it the Carinya Ski Lodge. It then tumbled down the hill across Bobuck Lane, slamming into an elevated car park and then directly into Bimbadeen Lodge.

Large parts of both buildings were scattered across the site and buried under 3,500 tonnes of rubble and soil; 18 people were killed. The area of landslide had a slope of between 22 and 40 degrees, composed primarily of soil and some loose or floating boulders. Rescue strategies were developed collaboratively by the emergency services, coordinated by New South Wales Police. The harsh environment, steepness of the hill and instability of the site made rescue operations difficult. The instability of the site under darkness posed danger to emergency services personnel and rescue could not begin until daylight. It was only after initial assessments were made of the collapsed structure that effective search methods could be carried out to detect the location of trapped victims. Only then was drilling through slabs and inserting cameras possible. Approximately 1,100 individual pieces of equipment were used on site by New South Wales firefighters. At 5.50 am on Saturday, 2 August a male survivor, Stuart Diver, was found in a confined space trapped under three concrete slabs. Although suffering from hypothermia he was not severely injured. His release took rescuers and paramedics more than ten hours.

Seven years later a New South Wales Supreme Court judgement determined the cause as 'a leaky mains pipe and a road built on a vulnerable slope of debris'. Since the landslide, the New South Wales Government has spent $50m upgrading the Alpine Way. Thredbo landslide, July 1997 – courtesy Emergency Management Australia. Storm at sea - Sydney to Hobart yacht race - December 1998 Of the 115 yachts that set sail at 1.00 pm on 26 December 1998 in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, only 44 reached their destination. The cause of this disaster was an intense low pressure system which formed in the Bass Strait region of south-eastern Australia during the long weekend of 25-28 December 1998. The explosive development of this low commenced on 26 December and reached peak intensity on 27 December with average wind speeds reported in the 50-60 knot range. Gusts and squalls of considerably higher wind speeds would almost certainly have been experienced by the yachts for short periods - possibly reaching up to 70-75 knots - and causing ferociously massive seas.

The destruction caused to the fleet by the storm triggered a huge search and rescue operation involving numerous personnel from organisations such as the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Royal Australian Navy, the Royal Australian Air Force and police. Even so, it resulted in the abandonment of several yachts and the death of six people. It was the most disastrous event in the then 54-year history of this yachting classic. The yachts encountered very severe wind and sea conditions before most were half way into their approximately 630 nautical mile journey down the south-east coast of Australia. The worst weather to hit the fleet occurred off the southern New South Wales coast and in eastern Bass Strait. The Bureau of Meteorology had issued a gale warning for the southern New South Wales coast four hours in advance of the start of the race; it upgraded this to a storm warning for the southern New South Wales coast and the eastern Bass Strait area about one hour into the race. Record rainfall - Esperance - January 1999 The following extract is from the Western Australian Regional Office of Climate and Consultative Services, Bureau of Meteorology records for 7 January 1999: 'Persistent heavy rainfall in the Esperance region in the past few days has caused significant flooding.

From late Monday evening (4th) until 9.00 am today Esperance recorded 209 mm, the heaviest rainfall event since rainfall records began in 1889. A total of 107 mm fell in the 24 hours to 9.00 am this morning, including 55 mm from 10.00 am until 11.30 am yesterday morning. This is the third highest daily fall on record, falling short of the 126 mm on 30 April 1922. The two-day fall of 189 mm replaces the previous highest total of 137.7 mm on 5-6 June 1941. This unseasonal event is due to a strong and slow moving upper level trough undercut by cool south-easterly winds near the surface.' Hailstorm - Sydney - April 1999 New South Wales and southern Queensland are particularly prone to large hail, normally accompanying severe thunderstorms developing along low pressure troughs.

Late on 14 April 1999, a storm moving parallel to, and just off the southern New South Wales coast, swung north over the eastern suburbs of Sydney. Huge hailstones, some the size of softballs, and driven by squally winds, struck the city and eastern suburbs. The onslaught of ice badly damaged or destroyed many cars, partly destroyed many homes, and damaged several commercial aircraft. Many thousands of buildings, mostly homes, suffered serious roof damage. Insurance losses exceeded $1.7b, replacing the Newcastle earthquake of 1989 as Australia's costliest natural disaster (in terms of insured losses). Tennis ball sized hail, Sydney, April 1999. Bushfire - Canberra - January 2003 In mid-January 2003, due to the combination of extreme weather conditions (high temperature, low humidity, lightning strikes and strong gusty winds) multiple bushfires broke out in the Kosciuszko National Park, New South Wales and the Namadgi National Park, south of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. During the ensuing days, gale-force winds pushed the fires into the forested land adjoining Canberra, including the Stromlo forest.

During the afternoon of Saturday 18 January the situation deteriorated quite dramatically, with fire spreading to many residential areas of Canberra, taking fire-fighters by surprise and engulfing parts of the suburbs of Duffy, Rivett, Chapman, Kambah, Higgins, Hawker and Cook. The unique meteorological conditions associated with the approaching fire front caused extreme wind conditions in localised areas of south-western Canberra. These fierce winds uprooted trees, downed power lines, blew in house windows, stripped tiles from roofs, and even embedded pot plants in house roofs ahead of the fire front. Thousands of emergency response personnel and volunteers held Canberra together during the devastating bushfires which claimed four lives, destroyed as many as 530 homes and nearly a million hectares of national parklands and state forest before it was contained. Statistics show that 5% of houses had severe damage caused by wind alone, while another 5% were damaged by both wind and fire. Over a six-hour period at Canberra Hospital, 139 patients (105 with fire-related problems) were treated - one every four minutes.

Insured losses from the January 2003 bushfires were estimated to cost $250m, with 2,500 individual claims. Chapman after the Canberra bushfires, January 2003 – courtesy Geoscience Australia. Cyclone - north Queensland - March 2006 Category 5 Cyclone Larry smashed into the far-north Queensland coast, lashing the area with winds of up to 290 km/h. It crossed the coast near Innisfail around daybreak on the morning of Monday 20 March 2006. Gale-force winds uprooted trees, lifted roofs of houses and flattened crops. Fortunately, no lives were lost and no serious injuries were reported. However, between Babinda and Tully, damage to infrastructure and crops was extensive with the total estimated loss upwards of $500m. To a somewhat lesser extent, damage also occurred in areas north to Cairns, south to Cardwell and on the Atherton Tablelands. Larry developed from a low pressure system over the eastern Coral Sea. The low became noticeable on Thursday 16 March and was then closely monitored by the Bureau of Meteorology.

It developed into a tropical cyclone during the early hours of Saturday 18 March, and proceeded on a general westerly course towards the Queensland coast. Late in the morning of 18 March, Larry was classified as a severe category 3 cyclone and continued to intensify to a marginal category 5 cyclone as it approached the Queensland coast. Larry was the first severe tropical cyclone to cross near a populated section of the east-coast of Queensland since Rona in 1999 and the effects of the winds on buildings were devastating. Larry caused a significant storm surge, the highest inundation recorded was a substantial 4.9 metres above the expected tide at Bingil Bay. Rainfall associated with Larry resulted in flooding in the Mulgrave, Russell, Tully and Murray Rivers on the north tropical coast and in the Gulf Rivers. The heaviest rainfall, in the Tully River catchment, was over 500 mm recorded at Euramo, near Tully, in the 72 hours to 9.00 am on 22 March.

A bushfire rages near Merimbula, New South Wales, New Years Day, 2006 – courtesy Stephen Kemp, Bureau of Mereorology. Floods - Newcastle - June 2007 Over the June long weekend, between Friday 8 and Monday 11 June 2007, the Hunter and Central Coast regions of New South Wales were lashed with severe weather conditions. Torrential downpours and gale-force winds caused flash flooding, and grounded a bulk carrier the Pasha Bulker on Nobbys Beach. Thousands of residents were urged to abandon their homes ahead of a torrent of expected floodwater. The death toll from the three days of wild storms reached nine after a man was swept into a stormwater drain in the Newcastle suburb of Lambton after getting out of his car. At the peak of Friday's wild weather, five members of the same family were swept to their deaths when a section of the Old Pacific Highway collapsed under their vehicle and it was hit by a 'wall of water' at Somersby, near Gosford.

Further north, a couple were killed when their vehicle was washed off a flooded bridge at Clarence Town, while a 29-year old man died when a tree fell on his ute at Brunkerville, Lake Macquarie. The State Emergency Service issued an evacuation order for about 5,000 residents of central Maitland, South Maitland, Lorne and Singleton. Sandbagging operations were undertaken at Branxton to protect homes near the river. About 75,000 homes of the Lower Hunter and Central Coast experienced power cuts. The Premier of New South Wales said the damage in Newcastle was worse than that caused by the city's December 1989 earthquake. 'Pasha Bulker' stranded on Nobbys Beach, Newcastle, June 2007 – courtesy Amy McEneny. Floods - Gippsland - July 2007 Six months previously, Victoria's Gippsland was under siege from bushfires which destroyed everything in their wake and after the inferno, drought gripped the region.

In July 2007, residents were dealt another devastating blow as for almost a week Gippsland was awash with the state's worst floods in a decade. Seven rivers burst their banks causing tens of millions of dollars worth of damage to homes, businesses and farms as well as a significant loss of public and private assets. The rapidly rising floodwaters left one man dead and forced dozens of families to be rescued and many communities to be evacuated. More than 48 hours of torrential rain left towns throughout Gippsland struggling to stay above water. Over 1,000 emergency service staff worked to save homes and shops in towns throughout Gippsland where rivers burst over flood plains and roads. Efforts included the evacuation of everyone in Newry, north of Maffra. The Victoria Police air wing winched more than 20 residents to safety, including a woman and her dog. Document Selection Natural disasters in Australia | australia.gov.au Natural disasters in Australia Australian poetry Natural disasters in Australia Kerry Reed-Gilbert, Strength Dignity Pride, from exhibition Sacred Country Unwrapped, 2007. Courtesy of Collector Gallery Artspace and Bookshop.

Australia experiences a range of 'natural disasters' including bushfires, floods, severe storms, earthquakes and landslides. These events cause great financial hardship for individuals and communities, and can result in loss of life, which has become part of Australian folklore. However, these events are also considered both part of the natural cycle of weather patterns in Australia as well as being affected by human factors such as overstocking, vegetation loss, dams, groundwater and irrigation schemes. These patterns are recognised by terms such as a 100-year drought – a drought of severity that is only seen once in a hundred years. Fire can often follow drought, and drought can be followed by flood. Severe fires followed by drought can also contribute to soil erosion. The experience of natural disaster has come to be seen as part of the Australian national character as described in the poem 'My Country' by Dorothea McKellar (1904). I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror - the wide brown land for me!

Drought A drought is a prolonged, abnormally dry period when there is not enough water for users' normal needs. Drought is not simply low rainfall; if it was, much of inland Australia would be in almost perpetual drought. Because people use water in so many different ways, there is no universal definition of drought. Living with Drought, Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology Australia is the driest of all inhabited continents, with its climates varying markedly over time and space. At any given moment, large parts of the country may be in drought. Research has showed that major droughts include clusters in the mid-1860s, 1877, 1888, 1895–1903, 1911–16, 1918–20 and variously between 1926–30, 1934–44, 1944–54, 1958–68 and 1972–81. The early 1980s and 1990s also saw punishing droughts.

Australia has experienced two significant '100-year droughts' in the last 100 or so years. These major droughts have resulted in financial losses, personal hardship and environmental damage. There have been ramifications on land administration and settlement, ecological systems, regional and local economies and technologies. Social consequences in the 1911–16 drought included larger than expected enlistment of men from drought affected areas in Western Australia into the Australian Imperial Forces during the First World War. In Western New South Wales and west Darling areas, the 1895 Federation Drought was exacerbated by heavy overstocking, and the arrival of rabbits which crossed the Murray River into western New South Wales in 1881 and reached plague proportions. Overstocking caused widespread severe erosion and increased the effects of the drought. 1895-1902, the Federation Drought In the five years leading up to Federation in January 1901, there were intermittent dry spells throughout Australia. By spring 1901, very dry conditions were being experienced across all of eastern Australia. Rivers in western Queensland dried up and the Darling River almost ran dry at Bourke in New South Wales.

Murray River towns such as Mildura, Balranald and Deniliquin, which depended on the river for transport, suffered badly. During this drought there was extended use of stock routes in Western New South Wales and the opening up of new stock routes to take advantage of 'native wells' with consequent evaporation of the wells. Together with engineering of irrigation schemes along the Murray-Darling River, the consequences were salinity problems and a rabbit plague (Bobbie Hardy, Lament for the Barkindji, Rigby Press, 1976). 1982–83 In 1982–83, large areas of central and eastern – particularly south-eastern – Australia experienced unprecedented low rainfall levels. This was the culmination of the four-year drought that had begun in 1979. It is estimated that the total cost to the economy was around $A7 billion. Agricultural losses, such as the death of livestock, resulted in massive job losses in rural areas. The effects of the drought contributed to the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires across Victoria and South Australia (see below). Mark Rogers, Drought, 1999. Courtesy of Mark Rogers.

1991-95 This drought in north-eastern New South Wales and much of Queensland, was the result of the lowest rainfall levels on record. A number of major water reservoirs went dry and many others fell to critically low levels. Average rural production fell by over 10 per cent and rural unemployment rose. Loss to the economy is estimated at around $A5 billion. 1996-mid 2010, the Millennium Drought From late 1996 to mid-2010, much of southern Australia (except parts of central Western Australia) experienced a prolonged period of dry conditions, known as the Millennium Drought. The drought conditions were particularly severe in the more densely populated southeast and southwest, and severely affected the Murray-Darling Basin and virtually all of the southern cropping zones. While this episodic dry spell contributed to a long-term statistical decline in southern cool-season rainfall, it is also partially distinct from those drying trends—most particularly in the southwest, where winter drying has persisted for more than four decades. During the Millennium Drought, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane were all affected by persistent or periodic drought episodes.

This period ranks with the Federation Drought and the Forties Drought as one of the three most severe, widespread and prolonged dry periods since 1900. Fires Bushfires are different from controlled burning. Indigenous communities have traditionally used fire as a hunting and farming tool to assist with regeneration. Indigenous Australians used controlled burning and fire management is used to encourage the growth of new plants and to prevent the growth of long grass which contribute to the tinder or fuel for bushfires. Fire management also allowed animals to escape, although some were lost to hunters. Eucalypts, for example, require occasional burns to regenerate. Fire stick farming used over tens of thousands of years created the fertile grazing plains west of the Blue Mountains. Long periods of dry, hot weather and natural vegetation that burns easily makes Australia particularly vulnerable to bushfire. Australian bushfires can be particularly severe as eucalyptus trees contain large amounts of oil which can burn very fast and very hot. Other human management factors which have contributed to the severity of bushfires include high fuel loads, a change from fire prevention to fire fighting measures, and not building adequate buffer zones to protect built assets (Nairn Inquiry, 2003).

As Australians learn to understand more about bushfires, bushfire prevention strategies are being adopted. The 1967 Tasmanian fires In 1967 southern Australian was experiencing drought conditions. On 7 February, 264,270 hectares were burnt in southern Tasmania in just five hours. Of the 110 fires burning that morning, the worst was the Hobart fire. The fire made its way over Mt Wellington and encroached on the city's western suburbs. Sixty-two (62) people died, and 1,400 homes and other buildings were destroyed. At the time, it was the largest loss of life and property in Australia from fire on any single day in Australia's history. Ash Wednesday bushfires, 1983 In the summer of 1983, conditions in Victoria and South Australia contributed to extremely high ignition levels. Drought conditions with a heatwave with temperatures of 43 degrees Celsius meant that forests were highly combustible. On Wednesday 16 February (now known as 'Ash Wednesday'), around 180 bushfires were burning across both states, the largest of them starting in Victoria.

Out of the Ash Wednesday fires, Victorian rescue teams were reorganised to better fight future fires: through improved radio networks, single command centres and establishing linkages between existing rural and city firefighters. Volunteer crew of MLO 10 from the ACT Bushfire Service patrolling the Mount Franklin containment line, Brindabella Ranges, on the night of 11/12 January 2003. Photo by David Tunbridge. Image courtesy of the National Library of Australia. Canberra firestorm, 2003 In mid-January 2003, extreme weather conditions led to multiple outbreaks of fire in Namadgi National Park to the south of Canberra. Strong winds pushed the fires into forested areas adjoining Canberra and on the afternoon of Saturday 18 January, firestorms fanned by high winds hit Canberra suburbs. Thousands of hectares of forest and park lands were burnt out. Black Saturday bushfires, Victoria, 2009 The Black Saturday bushfires were a series of bushfires that ignited or were burning across Victoria on and around Saturday, 7 February 2009. As many as 400 individual fires were recorded that day. The fires occurred during extreme bushfire-weather conditions.

Background temperatures reached 46 degrees Celsius (115°F) and winds were in excess of 100 km/h (62 mph). This had been precipitated by an intense heat wave and almost two months of little or no rain. A cool change hit the state in the early evening, bringing with it lower temperatures but gale-force southwesterly winds in excess of 120 km/h (75 mph). This change in wind direction caused the long eastern flanks of the fires to become massive fire fronts that burned with incredible speed and ferocity towards towns that had earlier escaped the fires. Wikipedia, Black Saturday bushfires Sam the koala receiving water from a Country Fire Authority (CFA) firefighter in burnt bushland. Sam’s image, just days after the news of Black Saturday, touched millions of people. Image courtesy of the ABC. The fires affected 78 townships, many badly damaged: Kinglake, Marysville, Narbethong, Strathewen, and Flowerdale were all but completely destroyed.

Houses in the towns of Steels Creek, Humevale, Clonbinane, Wandong, St Andrews, Callignee, Taggerty, and Koornalla were also destroyed or severely damaged, with fatalities recorded at each location. An estimated 7,562 people were displaced from their homes. The fires on 7 February 2009 resulted in the nation's highest ever loss of life from a bushfire: 173 people died and 414 were injured as a result of the fires. That day has become widely referred to as Black Saturday. A group of researchers from various state fire agencies and research organisations was assembled by the Bushfire CRC to look at key issues arising out of the February 2009 Victorian bushfires. Their research examined fire behaviour, human behaviour, buildings and land issues. The final report notes that four of the five major fires spread two to three times faster than predicted and that spotting of the fires ahead of the main fire front played a major part in the forward rate of the fire spread.Many residents were not prepared for the severity of the fire and a considerable amount of last-minute planning and preparation took place on the day of the fires.

In addition fire agencies and councils were only modestly successful in alerting communities about effective preparation and the severity of the fire danger. Building materials, as well as the immediate proximity to adjacent forest fuels were seen as significant contributing factors as well as the design and location of water pumps. New South Wales bushfires, 2013 In October 2013, a series of bushfires occurred across the state of New South Wales. At the peak of the fires, on 18 October, over 100 fires were burning across the state. The most severe fires began in the Greater Blue Mountains Area on 16 and 17 October, fueled by hot, dry and windy weather together with high fuel loads in bushland. Two fatalities were attributed to the fires. At least 248 dwellings and other buildings were destroyed; with 193 properties destroyed and 109 damaged in the lower Blue Mountains at Springwood, Winmalee and Yellow Rock. More than 118,000 hectares (291,584 acres) of bushland were burnt across the state, concentrated around the eastern seaboard and highlands. 2013 New South Wales bushfires, Wikipedia.

Heatwaves A heatwave is a prolonged period of excessive heat, which results from a certain combination of temperature, humidity, air movement and duration. Heatwaves are the most underrated of the natural disasters, as the bushfires that accompany many heatwaves tend to get most of the attention, and in Australia they have caused the greatest loss of life on any natural hazard (except disease). Unlike bushfires, there is generally no escaping a heatwave. While the 1939 'Black Friday' bushfires in Victoria killed 71 people and are written into our history, the accompanying heatwave – which triggered the blazes – claimed 438 lives and yet remains largely unacknowledged. On the 30 January 2009, prior to the Black Saturday fires, there had been a week of temperatures over 40 degrees celsius, with 18,000 homes in Victoria without electricity as the heatwave conditions tested the electricity grid. Floods Floods occur when water covers land which is normally dry. Floods in Australia range from localised flash flooding as a result of thunderstorms, to more widespread flooding following heavy rain over the catchment areas of river systems.

Flooding is also a regular seasonal phenomenon in Northern Australia. Australian towns were built on floodplains despite warnings from local Aborigines. Nyngan (meaning flood in its local Aboriginal language) was severely flooded on 23 April 1990. Cover of Yarri of Wiradjuri by John Warner. Gundagai was rebuilt on a new site after a flood in 1852 wiped out 71 buildings, and 89 of the town's 250 inhabitants died. More people would have perished were it not for the heroism of local Aborigine Yarri of the Wiradjuri people and his mate Jackie, who saved more than 40 people using a simple bark canoe. Recently, town councils and shires have started mapping the 100-year flood areas so that the extent of the flood plain can be mapped for town planning, building regulations and zoning for land use to avoid building on flood-prone areas. Regional flood mitigation programs have been initiated by the Australian Government to work with state and territory governments.

North eastern Tasmania, 1929 In April 1929, 22 people died when heavy rain caused severe flooding in the north east of Tasmania. In addition, 14 people died when the Briseis Dam on the Cascade River gave way, inundating the town of Derby. A further eight people (six from one family) were drowned near Ulverstone when a truck crashed into a flooded river. Rain commenced late on 3 April and, in three days, up to 500mm fell over the high country of the northeast, and over a smaller area south of the Burnie/Ulverstone area. The Briseis Dam on the Cascade River crumbled, and the resulting torrent, carrying thousands of tons of trees, rocks and gravel, overwhelmed houses and offices, with 14 deaths. Over 1,000 houses in Launceston were inundated, and most other north coastal rivers were heavily flooded. Bureau of Meteorology, A hundred years of science and service, 2001, p.16.

Hunter Valley, South-eastern Australia, 1952 In late February 1955, a monsoon depression moving down from Queensland dumped 250mm of rain in 24 hours over the already-saturated Hunter region. The Hunter, and several west flowing rivers, swiftly rose to record levels, drowning the surrounding country. In East Maitland, water completely submerged houses, and 15,000 people were evacuated. It was a similar story throughout the Hunter, Macquarie, Namoi and Gwydir River Valleys, with houses destroyed, metres of flood waters in the streets, and many thousands of stock drowned. Brisbane, Queensland, 1974 The town of Charleville inundated by the April 1990 floods. Image courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology. In January 1974, the weakening Cyclone Wanda brought heavy rainfall to Brisbane and many parts of south-eastern Queensland and northern New South Wales. One third of Brisbane's city centre and 17 suburbs were severely flooded. Fourteen people died and over 300 were injured. Fifty-six homes were washed away and 1,600 were submerged.

Queensland and New South Wales, 1990 Over one million square kilometres of Queensland and New South Wales (and a smaller area of Victoria) were flooded in April 1990. The towns of Nyngan and Charleville were the worst affected with around 2,000 homes inundated. Six people were killed and around 60 were injured. Brisbane and Queensland, 2010–2011 Beginning in December 2010, a series of floods in Queensland forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities including the capital city Brisbane. At the time, the Premier Anna Bligh announced that at least 70 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at around A$1 billion. The estimated reduction in Australia's GDP is about A$30 billion. Three-quarters of the state of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.

Disaster declarations were made for the Brisbane, Bundaberg, Dalby, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Gympie, Ipswich, Logan, Maryborough, Rockhampton, Roma, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Warwick and Redcliffe districts, representing three-quarters of the state. The Condamine, Ballone and Mary Rivers recorded substantial flooding. An unexpected flash flood raced through Toowoomba's central business district. Water from the same storm devastated communities in the Lockyer Valley. Thousands of houses in Ipswich and Brisbane were inundated as the Brisbane River rose and Wivenhoe Dam, with flood mitigation capacity, was forced to release thousands of megalitres of water each day. Clean up volunteers organised via social media after the Brisbane floods. Photo by Megan Slade, courtesy of The Sunday Mail. As the flooding receded, social media was used to organise more than 55,000 volunteers who registered to help clean up the streets of Brisbane. Thousands more unregistered volunteers wandering the muddy streets with gumboots and mops in what was recognised as a ‘tremendous spirit of volunteering right across Queensland.

Victorian floods, 2011 The Queensland floods were followed by the 2011 Victorian floods which saw more than fifty communities in western and central Victoria also grapple with significant flooding. Queensland and New South Wales, 2013 Flooding in the path of ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald was the worst since European settlement in some areas of southeast Queensland, where rainfall in excess of 1000mm was recorded in 96 hours. In Bundaberg, more than 2000 homes and close to 700 businesses were inundated as the Burnett River rose to a record 9.53 metres, forcing the biggest evacuation in Queensland history. Most of the east coast of Queensland, and the coast of New South Wales from the Illawarra northwards, experienced very heavy rainfall during the period from 22 to 29 January 2013, as a result of the former tropical cyclone Oswald tracking southwards along a track just inland from the Queensland coast.

This rainfall resulted in severe flooding in many areas within 200 kilometres of the east coast, most notably in the Burnett catchment in Queensland and the Clarence catchment in northern New South Wales, both of which reached record flood peaks. Bureau of Meteorology, Special Climate Statement 44 – extreme rainfall and flooding in coastal Queensland and New South Wales. Cyclones A cyclone is an area of low pressure around which the winds flow clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. I f the sustained winds around the centre reach 119 km/h (with wind gusts in excess of 170 km/h), then the system is called a severe tropical cyclone. In other countries severe tropical cyclones are called hurricanes or typhoons. The Tropical Cyclone Season in Australia extends from November to April. Some of the most destructive cyclones which have hit the Australian mainland include: Cyclone Mahina, 1899 In March 1899 in Cape York, Queensland, Cyclone Mahina resulted in the greatest death toll of any natural disaster in Australia's recorded history.

Over 400 people died, including the crews of around 100 pearling fleet vessels, and an estimated 100 local Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Cyclone Ada, 1970 Tropical Cyclone Ada caused severe damage to resorts on the Whitsunday Islands, Queensland, in January 1970. Its path of destruction included the islands of Daydream, South Molle and Hayman.& The damage bill was estimated at $A390 million and 14 people were killed. The devastation inflicted on Darwin by Cyclone Tracy in December 1974. Photo by Australian Information Services. Image courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology. Cyclone Tracy, 1974 On Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy struck the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory. Small but compact by world standards, Tracy packed unusually strong winds (gusts to 217km/h at Darwin Airport before the recorder failed). Tracy moved in from the Arafura Sea, skirted Bathurst Island, then, swinging sharply south, struck Darwin early on Christmas Day.

Good warnings had been issued, but the combination of public indifference (it was Christmas and no severe cyclone had affected Darwin for years), extremely fierce winds, and the loose design of many buildings at that time, led to wholesale destruction. Bureau of Meteorology, A hundred years of science and service, 2001, p.17. One hundred and ninety-five millimetres (195mm) of rain fell in less than nine hours, and winds estimated at around 250 km per hour flattened the city. In terms of damage to a community, Cyclone Tracy remains Australia's most destructive for property damage. Seventy one (71) people were killed, and many thousands injured. Of a population of 43,000, 25,000 were left homeless. Most of the population was evacuated. One result was the priority given to the development of cyclone-proof buildings and other aspects of disaster planning. Cyclone Larry, 2006 The Far North Queensland coast was declared a natural disaster zone after the severe impact of tropical Cyclone Larry on 20 March 2006.

The category five cyclone registered winds of up to 290 km/h. Major damage was caused to homes, other buildings and agricultural crops, but no loss of life occurred. $A1.5 billion was the estimated total damage bill for the affected regions. Cyclone Yasi, 2011 Yachts, pleasure craft and tourist vessels piled on top of each other at Port Hinchinbrook marina in the aftermath of Cyclone Yasi. Courtesy of AFP. Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi was a tropical cyclone that crossed the coast in northern Queensland, in the early hours of Thursday, 3 February 2011. Yasi originated from a tropical low near Fiji, intensified to a Category 3 cyclone on 31 January 2011 before the cyclone intensified to a Category 5 system. At Mission Beach, which experienced the most severe damage, wind gusts were estimated to have reached 290 km/h (180 mph). Areas around Tully, Silkwood, Mission Beach, Innisfail and Cardwell bore the brunt of the damage. Insurance losses were estimated at around $655 million.

According to residents in Tully, the town was ‘...a scene of mass devastation’. An unknown number of homes were completely destroyed as intense winds, estimated at 209 km/h (130 mph), battered the area, with an estimate that about 90% of the structures along the main avenue sustained extensive damage. Prior to landfall, tens of thousands of residents were evacuated ahead of the storm’s anticipated arrival on 2 February. The evacuations along with the preparations for Cyclone Yasi, subsequent to Cyclone Larry, meant that there was no loss of life directly attributed to Yasi. Australians in the face of adversity The trauma experienced by many people, such as those who suffered loss of their family members, their homes, their livelihoods and close friends in the Black Saturday bushfires is matched by their resilience to re-establish their lives and sense of identity. The resilience of Australians is often most apparent in times of crisis. Grant Devilly, a trauma specialist at the University of Melbourne's psychology department, says the typically Australian 'she'll be right' mentality is invaluable in time of crisis, and Australian's are 'pretty bloody resilient'.

Louise Milligan, in her article 'The Plucky Country' (The Australian, 20 January 2003), points out that victims of disasters in Australia tend to adopt the attitude that 'the main thing is we're alive – it's only bricks and mortar'. Auxiliary Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn, Pat Power, has a similar view: I have been a priest 38 years and I stand in awe of the resilience of human nature in situations of personal tragedy. Just to see people retaining their sense of humour and a sense of camaraderie, and the public responding so generously – it's something that makes me proud to be an Australian. The Australian, 20 January 2003 This Australian character of showing resilience in the face of natural disaster and the natural cycle of drought, fire and floods has helped define our language and sense of humour as well as our music, poetry, literature and comedy. Useful links

Question: To within one year, in what year of this century was it badly damaged by fire?
Answer: 2007