Northern Tasmanian floods

[gregj1763]

Don't know if you have seen anything in the news but Tasmania has copped a hammering with some pretty wet weather of late.
Launceston and surrounding areas were badly flooded with the North and South Esk bursting their banks.
Here are a few images I captured over the last couple of days.
Greg

[IzzieK]

These are scary images, Greg. It is tornado season here in the US and all we hear around here is about the floods of Texas....As of the day before yesterday, the devastation was in Florida. Now we have a bit of quiet and very hot weather in the next few days.

On the first image, the signs are a little bit odd to my eyes. You mean there is a railroad there somewhere?
#2, is that a house? The splash of the waves is amazingly scary...
Hope you folks are OK over there...
Take care...

[Shadowman]

High energy captures.

[gregj1763]

High energy captures.

Thanks John

[gregj1763]

Yes Izzie, train tracks well under water. This shot was taken at Evandale out past the Launceston Airport. A driver and his partner got swept away on Monday the opposite side of the river after their newspaper delivery van got caught up in the swell. His partner was recused from trees by helicopter down stream, no sign of the driver at this stage. Doesn't look good
The house is an electric winch housing for the flying fox at the old unused Duck Reach power station. It and the station got wiped out in the 1929 floods then re-built, de-commissioned in the 50's.

[DEAN01]

Great shots, Greg! The second and third really get one's attention. Stay safe!

[Rita]

That 3rd shot sure puts a voice to the term "Force of Nature". Stay safe.

[John 2]

This planet of ours is certainly fighting back. It was our turn in the UK last year. So far this year it's been limited but Germany and France (Paris in particular - R Seine was at +22ft over the W/E) are having a very bad time. Great set of record pics but stay safe while your capturing them.

[Donald]

Powerful images, in every sense of the phrase.

Yep, and I believe there are still some people out there who refute the evidence that we're screwing up the planet.

[gregj1763]

Thanks all for the comments. All the serious flooding is over now and the water is slowly receding.
I'm still alive so thats a good thing
Lots of low lying areas were evacuated during the worst of it but the Launceston City Council has spent $millions over the last few years building flood levees for just this sort of disaster.
Money well spent otherwise 1929 would have been repeated when most of Invermay went under water.
We usually get this sort of thing every few years or so, this was the worst I have seen.
Regards, Greg

[chauncey]

I believe there are still some people out there who refute the evidence that we're screwing up the planet.

Yep...just like during the ice age.

[jacsul]

Wow!

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Wavelength]

They show the power of Mother Nature!!!Great images!!!

[FootLoose]

Powerful images, in every sense of the phrase.

Yep, and I believe there are still some people out there who refute the evidence that we're screwing up the planet.

You got that right, Donald. Tasmania is a greens-dominated state, which means it depends on the mainland states for its financial survival. (We call it the Greece of the south.) Over summer the hydro-electric authority decided to make some money by selling power to the mainland, which meant running down the water level in its dams quite substantially. Then when the rains didn't come, Tasmanians had to endure power shortages.

So, when the flooding rains were forecast last week, the hydro-electric authority decided to seed the clouds to maximise rainfall over the dams. You can see results above in greg's photos.

This may be one of the worst floods Tasmania has experienced but they may be only because of the stupidity of some people. Be wary of attributing every damaging weather event to the ideology of climate change. You can read about it in Australian newspapers if you are interested.

[gregj1763]

So, when the flooding rains were forecast last week, the hydro-electric authority decided to seed the clouds to maximise rainfall over the dams. You can see results above in greg's photos.

This may be one of the worst floods Tasmania has experienced but they may be only because of the stupidity of some people. Be wary of attributing every damaging weather event to the ideology of climate change. You can read about it in Australian newspapers if you are interested.

Interesting Greg, I was unaware of this, just read an article on it.
No doubt it will be swept under the carpet as usual

[IzzieK]

So, when the flooding rains were forecast last week, the hydro-electric authority decided to seed the clouds to maximise rainfall over the dams. You can see results above in greg's photos.

I have heard of seeding the clouds for a good while. Some even goes to the extent of "pushing away rain clouds" to have good weather for an event. Australians were the first to announced to the world that climate change is a hoax and some took advantage of it to fool many who line their pockets with fear mongering. Aussie have scientific evidence to prove it.

[Tiger10]

Hi Greg,
Great power in these captures.
I'm originally from Launceston and I've seen a few floods but nothing like this. The Cataract Gorge one's are especially awesome.
Thanks for sharing
Richard

[gregj1763]

Glad you like the images Richard no doubt a reminder of how wet it gets down here at times.
I spent a day in Dawin a few years back waiting for a connecting flight would like to get back there for a longer visit some time.
Greg

[CP140]

I've been watching the new out of Australia over the last few days out of motivated self-interest as we will be down in that part of the world in September/October this year. You really got hammered with nasty weather.

I particularly like the third and fourth shots.

Stay safe.

[gregj1763]

Cheers for the comments Martin. I'm sure we can turn on some better weather for you when you're here