Understanding floods
Flooding occurs when excess water from high rainfall events cannot be absorbed into the landscape. This may be due to extreme rainfall events, (as with cyclones), changes in land cover and vegetation across the river catchment, and saturation of soils and aquifers.
In an attempt to predict potential flood events, and thus mitigate their impacts, hydrometeorological models are used to estimate where excess water is likely to flow. As our understanding of meteorological events and hydrological processes improves, our ability to predict flooding improves, but this is still an imperfect science.
As a result of this still imperfect science of flood estimation and prediction, providing assistance to communities in flood preparedness is vital. Developing techniques to reduce flood impacts is an important component in flood research, as is the development of adaptive approaches to flood engineering solutions.
Ten years of Australian floods
| Date | Event | State |
|---|---|---|
| February 2008 | Mackay floods | QLD |
| September 2010 | Victorian floods | VIC |
| March 2010 | Queensland floods | QLD |
| December 2010 | Carnarvon/Gascoyne | WA |
| December 2010 - January 2011 | Queensland floods | QLD |
| January 2011 | Victorian Floods | VIC |
| August 2011 | Gippsland | VIC |
| February - March 2012 | Eastern Australia | NSW, VIC, QLD |
| March 2012 | Gippsland and Koowerup | VIC |
| January – February 2013 | Eastern Australia Floods | QLD, NSW |
| April 2015 | Hunter Valley/Central Coast/Sydney | NSW |
| May 2015 | South East Queensland Flash Floods | QLD |
| June 2016 | Tasmanian Floods | TAS |
| September 2016 | Central West and Riverina Floods | NSW |
| February 2017 | West Australian Floods | WA |
| March - April 2017 | East Australian Floods,Cyclone Debbie | SEQ, N NSW |
| May 2018 | Tasmanian Floods, Hobart | TAS |
| Sources: Queensland Police Service, SES, BOM, ABC News, Melbourne Herald Sun, The Daily Mail, the Guardian, The Courier Mail | ||
