Extremes and adaptation to those extremes are key concepts in climate change. From 2001 to 2011, there was a 10-year drought in Brisbane. Back then, washing your car was against the law, and hosing down the driveway was a social no-no. As our lawns grew brown and our flower gardens withered, neighbors started tipping off neighbors. As the climate changed, we adjusted.
Australia is currently dealing with the consequences of La Nia for the third year in a succession. In Queensland, 11 cyclones are anticipated this season (we “often” get 4 cyclones to cross the coast). After a record-breaking year of rainfall, the dams are full, and as cyclone season approaches, tensions are at an all-time high. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has made a water subsidy announcement and is enticing consumers to use as much water as they can. Dams are releasing water in preparation for heavy rains expected over the next two weeks.
a severe weather warning has been released by the Bureau of Meteorology. Before things get bad, they’re going to get worse.
Previously, the weather report would follow the news for five minutes. It now takes the bulletin’s lead. The news now centers on the weather on a global scale. Massive flooding is currently occurring in Tasmania, Victoria, and New South Wales in Australia. People have perished after being caught in flash floods or unintentionally driving through rivers that were hardly flowing only a few hours earlier.
Politicians and bureaucrats must update an outdated warning system that is ineffective during these major weather events. It has become the new standard.
Specifically, our house flooded in March, and the repairs have not yet been finished. Even though the damage was little, it did not deter us. We now have to consider the prospect of another, though. It’s time to empty the water tank, inspect the drains, and clean the gutters (installed during the drought). Family members who live close to the Brisbane River had to demolish their home for repairs, and it’s likely that they will do it once more.
The bushfires the year before also affected the southern regions that are today under water. How many catastrophes can a society survive, then simply go on?
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