Australia: Thunderstorms Kill 10, Cause Power Outages

Facts

• At least ten people have been killed and thousands left without power after severe thunderstorms battered the Australian states of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland on Christmas and Boxing Day.¹
• On Sunday, New South Wales received 150mm of rain and 5cm hailstones. Reports have emerged of townhouses, homes, and roads being inundated by flash flooding in the country's eastern suburbs.²
• Authorities reported at least 250K lightning strikes on Monday and about 150K on Tuesday. Alerts were also issued over rising river levels.³
• The 'unprecedented' storms have already destroyed power lines and uprooted trees. The weather bureau has forecasted more rain, though the harsh weather is expected to turn moderate later.⁴
• Emergency services are continuing to recover bodies of victims washed away in floods and killed in tree-falls. Meanwhile, rescue teams are searching affected areas to find missing persons.⁵
• Earlier this month, former tropical cyclone Jasper caused significant flooding in Queensland. According to Queensland Premier Steven Miles, the cost of damage from both storms could run into the billions.⁴

Sources: ¹XM, ²Daily Mail, ³Independent, ⁴RTE.ie and ⁵Guardian.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Australian Financial Review. Australia's nightmarish Christmas has come about despite flood warnings and an efficient crisis management system. Besides the tragic loss of lives, the country must now take stock of the material damage the raging storms have caused. Australia needs a paradigm shift in how it deals with climate-related issues, such as Cyclone Jasper.
• Narrative B, as provided by World Economic Forum. It's clear from the many extreme weather-related crises Australia has faced in recent years that the country needs to review urbanization. The drainage systems of Australia's cities haven't been able to cope with their expansion, making extreme weather events like Jasper worse. Add to that the widening of built-up areas in these urban agglomerations, which has reduced the earth's permeable surface area through which water can seep down, and it becomes clear why extreme weather is being so poorly dealt with.

Predictions