Australia brace for wild weather

[Pastor Dale Morgan]

*Perilous Times and Global Warming

Australia brace for wild weather*

By Jessica Marszalek

May 30, 2008 04:34pm
Article from: AAP

AUTHORITIES in Queensland are bracing for wild weather to continue
across the weekend following flooding and power outages along the
state's southern coast today.

A low pressure system, which was today moving south from a position
north of Fraser Island, has brought falls of more than 100mm across the
Wide Bay region in the past 24 hours.

The Sunshine Coast recorded the highest rainfall today with more than
71mm at Sandy Cape on Fraser Island, 62mm at Rainbow Beach and 54mm at
Maryborough since 9am (AEST).

Emergency Management Queensland director of disaster operations Mike
Shapland said the State Emergency Service (SES) had received around 100
calls for help from the Sunshine Coast today for sandbagging, leaking
roofs and fallen trees, including one that fell onto a car at Coolum.

But Hervey Bay had been worst affected with 12 homes inundated, while
more than 1,000 homes in the Brisbane, Lockyer Valley, Gold Coast,
Sunshine Coast, Ipswich and Redcliffe areas lost power.

Campsites on Fraser Island have also been closed due to fears of falling
trees, Mr Shapland said.
He said emergency services were readying themselves for wild weather
until Sunday, but were still unsure how badly areas would be affected
due to the low's unpredictability.

"We all saw that rainfall earlier on in Mackay this year - 600mm in six
hours - that sort of thing is particularly very intense in a localised
area,'' Mr Shapland said.

"I guess my main concern is the unpredictable, rather than the overall
flooding events themselves.''

He urged residents to secure their homes.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Geoff Douel said rain had
stretched from the Sunshine Coast to the Gold Coast today but the
majority of rain was still concentrated over the Sunshine Coast and Wide
Bay areas.

He said while the system would bring rain to Brisbane, it would be
spared the heaviest falls until at least late Sunday.

"We are likely to see the heavy falls coming down to Brisbane late in
the weekend,'' he said.

"The system that's generating it relaxes late Saturday and comes back
Sunday, so late Sunday-Monday we might see the heaviest stuff come down
toward Brisbane.''

An SEQWater spokesman said falls of up to 44mm had been recorded in the
North Pine Dam catchment while the Somerset Dam catchment had received
between 18 and 26mm.

However, he said consistent falls of between 40 and 45mm were needed to
trigger inflow into the region's dams and an additional 40 to 50mm was
needed to lift the dams past 40 per cent of capacity.