Northeastern Australia, particularly the state of Queensland, has faced record-breaking rainfall of up to 2 meters, or 6.5 feet, since Feb. 1, reportedly leaving at least two people dead.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli called the damage “quite frankly incredible,” with the state experiencing nonstop rains, heavy flooding and power outages, BBC reported. He also called the extreme weather event a “once-in-a-century occurrence.”
The situation is starting to ease in some cities of Queensland such as Townsville, with residents able to return home, Crisafulli told a media briefing. But hundreds of properties are expected to have been submerged in floodwaters, some due to rising river levels. Towns farther north, such as Ingham and Cardwell, are experiencing power outages and damaged roads
Authorities have recorded two fatalities so far. A 63-year-old woman died in Ingham when the rescue boat she was riding in capsized. The body of an 82-year-old woman was also found in a cane field in Bemerside near Ingham, The Guardian reported.
Bruce Highway, a major road in Queensland, was partly damaged by the flooding. A bridge on the highway partially collapsed, falling into the floodwaters below, forcing trucks bringing essential supplies to the most affected towns to take a long detour, ABC reported.
Electricity to Palm Island, a small archipelago located off the coast of northern Queensland, was also cut off for several days. Palm Island Mayor Alf Lacey told local media: “I’ve lived on Palm Island my whole life, and this is the worst I’ve seen in terms of continuous deluge. Mother nature is telling us something — we need to take action on climate change.”
Steve Turton, adjunct professor of environmental geography at Central Queensland University, wrote in The Conversation that “climate change is no doubt playing a role” in the recent flooding, with rising global temperatures and hotter oceans contributing to it.
In the southeast, the state of Victoria is dealing with massive bushfires. Lightning strikes on Jan. 27 ignited fires that have reportedly burned thousands of acres of Grampians National Park, a forested mountain range west of Melbourne, and are continuing to spread. Grampians had earlier faced multiple devastating fires in December 2024, which authorities only declared contained on Jan. 7.
Another fire ravaged 65,000 hectares (160,000 acres) of Little Desert National Park in less than 24 hours, “scorching an area almost as large as Singapore,” reports said. Bushfires are currently also blazing in Great Otway National Park.
More than 50,000 lightning strikes reportedly hit the ground across Victoria within a 24-hour period starting in the middle of Feb. 2. Strong winds fanned an “out-of-control” bushfire, and as of Feb. 4, authorities were advising residents in several towns in Victoria’s west to evacuate.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Kevin Parkyn told Agence France-Presse that parts of Victoria will experience a heat wave for the next several days.
Banner image of the recent bushfires in Victoria, courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory.