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Not again! BoM issues Flood warning for Qld and NSW. (aus.social)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Not again! BoM issues Flood warning for Qld and NSW.

"A major rain event will engulf most of eastern Australia during the next 48 hours, prompting the Bureau of Meteorology to issue flood watches from southern Queensland to the NSW South Coast.

"Greater Sydney could be soaked by up to 200mm from late Thursday to early Saturday, potentially leading to major flooding along the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, while Brisbane and Canberra also face the prospect of heavy rain."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-04/torrential-rain-triggers-flood-watch-for-sydney/103665240

@sydney #sydney #NSW #Australia #ClimateChange #weather #floods

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (2 children)

@maniacalmanicmania Really hope you're right.

That being said, the pessimist in me thinks we're just at the start of Autumn.

If there's already heavy rains at the start of April, then what's going to happen in May, June, July, August, and September?

It's also the same communities that are likely to be impacted — places like Richmond, Lismore, and the towns along the Hawkesbury.

The cleanup and rebuild is still ongoing from last time. Another round of floods would be the final straw — financially and emotionally — for many people and small businesses in those regions.

And if there's two bad flood seasons in two years, no insurer is going to touch those towns.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

But another bad flood season would not just be devastatingly bad. It would be "state government seriously considers relocating entire towns to higher ground" bad.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

relocating entire towns to higher ground

I've sometimes wondered about that. Sure the costs would be big, but it might pay off in the long run.

Bahahhahahhaa, who am I kidding? What politician or party cares about the long run. They don't care about anything but the next election.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

@No1 It's not unprecedented.

A few years ago, after a particularly bad flood, the entire town of Grantham in Queensland was relocated to higher ground: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/grantham-reborn-meet-the-little-queensland-town-that-moved-20200227-p5450g.html

If you have a town that's in a floodplain, instead of constantly needing to rebuild it every couple of decades (or less) because of floods, it can make sense to do so.

Banks and insurers look at the risk profile, and then adjust the cost of borrowing or insurance premiums accordingly.

At a certain point, it becomes far cheaper to just call in the bulldozers and rebuild elsewhere.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

@ajsadauskas @maniacalmanicmania Weather patterns switch up all around the globe. Sometimes excessive rain and precipitation and other times a lack thereof.