Seriously, the last three years have been pretty bad as far as natural disasters in Australia go. In February 2009, Victoria experienced the Black Saturday bushfires, where 173 people lost their lives, and over three and a half thousand homes and workplaces were destroyed. Damages were estimated at around one billion dollars.
Over the 2010/2011 New Years period, Tropical Cyclone Tasha caused Queensland to undergo serious flooding. 35 people were confirmed dead, with 9 missing. The direct damage costs are estimated to be over one billion dollars, and because a lot of our food is grown in Queensland, the economic impact is estimated to be in excess of $10 billion.
Now, as Queensland is just starting to recover from the floods, Tropical Cyclone Yasi has formed. The whole of Cyclone Tracy, which hit Darwin on Christmas in 1974 and killed 71 people, would fit neatly within Cyclone Yasi's eye. It's even bigger than Katrina. Winds of up to 300 kilometres per hour are expected, and the power has already been shut off in Townsville. To make matters worse, it's expected to hit some of Australia's most popular tourist destinations. Several urban centres with a combined population of around 360 thousand people. Luckily, we've had a fair warning and the vast majority of people are likely to be fine, but the estimated cost in terms of direct damage, and economic damage is incalculable. And that's not even counting the resulting floods.
Seriously, I'm not saying in Australia any longer than I have to.
Over the 2010/2011 New Years period, Tropical Cyclone Tasha caused Queensland to undergo serious flooding. 35 people were confirmed dead, with 9 missing. The direct damage costs are estimated to be over one billion dollars, and because a lot of our food is grown in Queensland, the economic impact is estimated to be in excess of $10 billion.
Now, as Queensland is just starting to recover from the floods, Tropical Cyclone Yasi has formed. The whole of Cyclone Tracy, which hit Darwin on Christmas in 1974 and killed 71 people, would fit neatly within Cyclone Yasi's eye. It's even bigger than Katrina. Winds of up to 300 kilometres per hour are expected, and the power has already been shut off in Townsville. To make matters worse, it's expected to hit some of Australia's most popular tourist destinations. Several urban centres with a combined population of around 360 thousand people. Luckily, we've had a fair warning and the vast majority of people are likely to be fine, but the estimated cost in terms of direct damage, and economic damage is incalculable. And that's not even counting the resulting floods.
Seriously, I'm not saying in Australia any longer than I have to.
