Australian Wildfire

Where: New South Wales Tasmania Victoria Queensland When: 4th January Ongoing in Tasmania Began 1st January in New South Wales Causes: Heat wave Dry conditions and strong winds Lack of monsoon season Impacts: Nearly 741,000 acres have burned across Australia 2,500 hectares destroyed at Deans Gap in New South Wales Thousands of livestock killed Five buildings at countrys biggest optical space observatory suffered damage 10,000 hectares burnt in Cooma in South of country Capacity to Cope: Firefighters attempting to control and kill fire Authorities fought nearly 100 bushfires in NSW with many still out of control Authorities warn people that fires will continue Emergency alerts were issued indicating that danger from fire was imminent. Big improvements in the way bush fires are predicted was significant in protecting lives and livelihoods Improvements in weather prediction and communications helped authorities ability to manage outbreaks

Australia Floods
Where: Queensland Brisbane Eastern Australia Hervey Bay & Wide Bay When: 23rd January - 4th February Causes: Torrential rain caused by ex-tropical cyclone Oswald Six tornados hit Hervey Bay and Wide Bay region Impacts: 1,200 properties flooded in city of Bundaberg, 385km North of Queensland 3 deaths caused by flood waters Towns of Bargara and Burnett Head declared disaster areas after the tornados hit Across region tens of thousand of people are without power Affected 2,000 people in Bundaberg Floodwater could flood up to 3,600 homes and 1,250 businesses in Brisbane More that 250,000 homes and businesses in South East Queensland left without power Capacity to Cope: Helicopters rescued 18 people from roofs of homes in Bundaberg Three men lead to safety after car became submerged in Bundaberg Trapped man was rescued from a drain in Hervey Bay Bureau of Meteorology warned that there was a strong possibility of further tornado activity Electricity companies said it could take up to two days to restore services to affected areas The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings got a 500km stretch of the east coast from central Queensland to the New South Wales border Authorities will work through the night to evacuate residents from areas left flooded by the ex-tropical cyclone Mandatory evacuations in the north and Lockyer Valley