Floods: Is This Really True?
- January 5th, 2011
- Posted by 7thmin
 
A quick fact check shows that if you paced it out, you probably would find an area equal to France and Germany is experiencing floods.
See EUAustralia Online, “Home News – Australian Flood Crisisâ€, 2.1.11.
Incredulous messages to Australia, e.g. from Germany: “How bad is the flooding … really hope you are OKâ€; from the United Kingdom: “Happy new year to you all over there in rain sodden Queensland (biblical floods, area the size of France and Germany under water, etc… is this actually true, or is it just the typically restrained UK media looking for a story in the festive silly season?).â€
Quick reference to standard sources (Britannica, CIA. Wikipedia) sets up these land areas.
- Queensland: 1 852 642 sq. kilometers
- Metropolitan France: 547 030 km sq
- Germany: 357021 km sq
Against the claim that 2/3 of Queensland in flood will equal the two European countries, that would be 1 235 094 Queensland km sq versus 904 051 Franco-German km sq – so true enough.The key point then becomes the claim itself, of two-thirds of the State.
- Given it is not two-thirds actually under sheets of water, a vast sea, as if under Noah’s flood; but declared flood areas …
- Given that all the State’s river systems are in flood, except for a small South-east corner, where the water also is running high …
- Given that tropical rain delivers most-huge volumes of water …
- Given it has been flooding also in New South Wales, which will be receiving much of the excess water now coursing around; adding to the square kilometers.
Then this looks to be holding up still as a fair claim.
It is not the same at all, as an imaginary sub-biblical flood over all of France and Germany, in terms of people numbers, major cities and other infrastructure; but losses will be massive enough, (recognising tragic loss of life, see also insurance claims by coal mining companies; roads, bridges and airport runways all gone to potholes, or worse, and a likely 25% drop in sugar output from one of the leading world exporters).
Damp days in a dry old continent.
Footnote: Those British reporters have been getting an honest money’s worth for silly season use, traveling far and wide. (General sentiment holds they are better off with trousers rolled up doing the floods, than joining the “Barmy Army†in convicts’ clobber at the cricket).