{"id":3255,"date":"2011-01-03T17:42:29","date_gmt":"2011-01-04T00:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thorntonweather.com\/blog\/?p=3255"},"modified":"2011-01-03T17:45:37","modified_gmt":"2011-01-04T00:45:37","slug":"flooding-in-australia-reaches-biblical-proportions-turns-deadly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thorntonweather.com\/blog\/world-weather\/flooding-in-australia-reaches-biblical-proportions-turns-deadly\/","title":{"rendered":"Flooding in Australia reaches ‘biblical proportions’, turns deadly"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Flooding<\/a>
Flooding in Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia. Rising waters prompted one government officials to call it 'a disaster of biblical proportions.' (Flickr \/ Michael Jefferies) Click the image for more photos of the Australian flooding on Examiner.com.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Residents of Australia’s state of Queensland are facing an extraordinary deluge following record-setting rain.\u00a0 In recent weeks an unusually heavy rainy season coupled with Tropical Storm Tasha has affected an area of land bigger than France and Germany combined.<\/p>\n

Queensland’s state treasurer Andrew Fraser \u00a0told media last week<\/a>, “It is a disaster of biblical proportions.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

NASA satellite measurements of the rainfall<\/a> indicated from 10 to 16 inches of rain fell within a week.\u00a0 Many rivers have overrun their banks including the Fitzroy River which is sending water into the city of Rockhampton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Disaster declarations have been made for an area encompassing 366,000 square miles and 41 of Queensland’s 73 municipalities.\u00a0 An estimated 200,000 residents are affected by the floods and tens of thousands have been evacuated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Government officials said 22 towns were either entirely flooded or isolated by flood waters.\u00a0 At least 10 deaths have been attributed to the flooding and rivers have yet to crest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For more, please visit the Natural Disasters Examiner<\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n