1. Australia’s Natural Hazards

2. Lesson Objectives Be able to rank some Australian natural disasters by a variety of criteria. Understand how the impacts of different types of hazards can vary. Work effectively in pairs.

3. Cyclone Tracey On Christmas Eve 1974, Cyclone Tracy struck the city of Darwin in the Northern Territory. An incredible 195 mm of rain fell in less than nine hours and winds of around 250 km/h flattened the city. Brisbane Floods In January 1974, the weakening Cyclone Wanda brought heavy rainfall to Brisbane and many parts of south-eastern Queensland and northern NSW. The highest recordings were a staggering 1,318mm, and 819mm in the city of Brisbane, flooding one third of the city’s centre Ash Wednesday On 16 February 1983 around 180 bushfires raged in both States, the largest of them starting in Victoria. Within a few days, over 520,000 ha had burnt across both States and many buildings and farms were lost The 1967 Tasmanian fires On 7 February 1967, during a time of considerable drought, 264,270 hectares were burnt in southern Tasmania in the space of five hours. Of the 110 fires raging on that fateful morning. The fire destroyed many homes in its path. 1939 Heatwave While the 1939 ‘Black Friday’ bushfires in Victoria killed many people, the accompanying heatwave - which triggered the blazes – killed many more, especially the old and already weak. The Canberra bushfires Horrendous firestorms fanned by high winds hit the nation’s capital on Saturday 18 January 2003. The fires swept through Canberra’s suburbs causing massive destruction. Large scale evacuations took place and a massive relief effort was put in place. 1991-95 Drought North-eastern NSW and much of Queensland had the result of the lowest rainfall levels on record. A number of major water reservoirs went dry. There were massive agricultural losses as average rural production fell by over 10 per cent. Rural unemployment rose as people’s farms went under. Newcastle earthquake was a magnitude 5.6 occurring on 28/12/89, at 10.27am. Even though the earthquake itself was only 5 to 6 seconds in length, it collapsed several major buildings and many homes, schools and commercial buildings. 1990 Nyngan Flood Over one million square kilometres of Queensland and New South Wales (and a smaller area of Victoria) were under water. The towns of Nyngan and Charleville were the worst affected with main streets well under water.

4. HIGHEST LOWEST THESE 3 ARE RANKED ABOUT MIDDLE NOT QUITE THE HIGHEST NOT QUITE THE LOWEST

5. Tasks Rank by death toll Rank by number homeless Rank by cost

6. Disasters by Deaths DisasterYearKilled Heatwave1939112 Ash Wednesday198375 Cyclone Tracy197471 Tasmanian Fire196762 Brisbane Flood197416 Newcastle Earthquake198913 Nyngan Flood19907 Canberra Fires20034 Drought1991-950

7. Disasters by Homeless DisasterYearKilledHomeless Cyclone Tracy19747141,000 Ash Wednesday1983759,000 Brisbane Flood1974169,000 Tasmanian Fire1967627,000 Nyngan Flood199075,000 Newcastle Earthquake1989131,000 Canberra Fires20034100 Heatwave19391120 Drought1991-9500

8. Disasters by Cost DisasterYearKilledHomeless Cost Drought1991-9500$2.9 billion Newcastle Earthquake 1989131,000$1.12 billion Cyclone Tracy19747141,000$837 million Canberra Fires20034100$342 million Brisbane Flood1974169,000$328 million Ash Wednesday1983759,000$324 million Tasmanian Fire1967627,000$101 million Nyngan Flood199075,000$38 million Heatwave1939112--

9. Impacts of Natural Disasters DisasterYearKilledHomeless Cyclone Tracy19747141,000 $837 million Brisbane Flood1974169,000 $328 million Ash Wednesday1983759,000 $324 million Tasmanian Fire1967627,000 $101 million Heatwave1939112-- Canberra Fires20034100 $342 million Newcastle Earthquake 1989131,000 $1.12 billion Drought 1991-95 00 $2.9 billion Nyngan Flood199075,000 $38 million