2019-20 Georgeland floods

The Georgeland floods of 2019-20 were major flood events that took place in northern and eastern Georgeland between mid-December 2019 and mid-January 2020, with other flood events possibly continuing into February. Heavy rainfall across much of the country was the cause of the flooding, which took place mainly on coastal areas and along major rivers. The affected states were West Mainland, Scoita and Bradmarch. In addition to the flooding, considerable damage was done by storms and other weather events.

While the Indian Ocean Dipole effect has been attributed by climatologists as the primary cause of the increased rainfall, there is general scientific consensus that climate change and its alterations to weather patterns, bears a major responsibility. 

As of late January 2020, twenty people have been killed in the floods, eleven of them in one incident. The floods are the most deadly natural disaster in Georgeland since the 1985 Zigit earthquake and the most deadly flood event in the country's history. 

Background

Due to its location in the Indian Ocean, Georgeland is particularly vulnerable to high rainfall during the summer, as warm air moves from the subcontinent to Australia. Most summers see significant rainfall, although Georgeland has gone through several periods of drought. 

Extreme weather events which have hit Georgeland in recent years have included the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami (which caused minor damage in Bradmarch and East Mainland), similar (but less damaging) flooding in 2008 and 2015, and a series of severe wildfires in 2009. 

The average level of rainfall in December on Georgeland's northern islands and western coastline is 53 mm. In Chipwich, northern Scoita and northern Bradmarch this figure had been more than 100mm by Christmas Day.

On the worst day of the flooding, and the day on which the most casualties were recorded, the town of Fairhaven in Scoita, with an average December rainfall of 60mm, had recieved 576mm of rain. 

Affected areas

The flooding took place across several parts of the country over a period of around six weeks. The first major flooding incident to be reported was in Chipwich, on West Mainland's northern coast. The Chipwich floods began on 18 December as the Tennant River burst its banks. This was followed by a major flooding incident beginning on Scoita's northern coast on Christmas Day. By 23 December, the flood waters of the River Shannon had begun to spread, engulfing several small towns. Some townships and suburbs on the shores of Lough Neagh, the large lake surrounding Emilypolis, also began to experience rising waters. The centre of Emilypolis itself suffered only minor damage, thanks in part to flood barriers. However, the Rookford Bridge and the Garrington Bridge were damaged, meaning traffic in and out of the city proper was restricted from 29 December to 14 January. Many goods had to be airlifted in, a matter complicated by some flooding at Emilypolis International Airport, located near the lake. 

The Shannon burst its banks on 25 December and washed away the Corrigan Bridge near Fairhaven, which had already suffered damage in a hailstorm two weeks prior. It had been raining more-or-less constantly since that time. As the banks burst, the Corrigan Dam was also severely damaged, sending an excess of water into the townships of Corrigan and Clongarry, some 2km downstream. However, Fairhaven itself was the most badly-affected zone, with the waters almost five metres deep in some areas. 

The towns of Gadsby, Minton and Tabernacle Creek, in Bradmarch's north, also suffered significant flood damage. In Gadsby, the historic Royal Hotel, the earliest surviving hotel in the state outside the capital, was destroyed by rising waters. At Tabernackle Creek, flood waters completely surrounded the town and destroyed native wetlands. 

Flood waters gradually subsided in some of the affected zones as rainfall subsided, but as of late January 2020, emergency services were advising that conditions could remain dangerous until March. On January 26, two emergency workers were killed at Minton as a sudden rush of flood water swept away their truck. 

Casualties

As of 29 January 2020, twenty people were killed in the floods, with thousands more affected. 

• 24-year-old Jeff Simpson was killed on 23 December when his car was swept away by the burst Tennant River.
• On 28 December, 83-year-old Gordon Ackerman slipped and fell during the evacuation of a nursing home in Belfast, and later died in hospital.
• On 25 December, during the evacuation of Fairhaven, eleven people were killed when a bus carrying evacuees was caught in flood waters and pushed over, colliding with a building in the process. Those killed were all Fairhaven locals:
  • Thomas Ramsay, 37
  • Amelia Ramsay, 36
  • Jacinta Ramsay, 4
  • Donald Peterson, 45
  • Peter Logan, 63
  • Jordan Knight, 29
  • Sam Ingram-Jones, 18
  • Patricia Addison, 13
  • Norman Addison, 48
  • Danica Crossman, 53
  • Eric Crossman, 10
• Also on 25 December, a campsite on the shores of the Shannon River was flooded. The site had already been evacuated, but two campers, 20-year-old Martin Fielding and 18-year-old Gina Duggan, were left behind and drowned.
• On 29 December, a helicopter en route to an evacuation site crashed in high winds and killed the pilot, Roger Grimshaw, 50. 
• On 10 January, a car carrying Adam Fry, 35, and his mother Jennifer Rigby, 76, was trapped in rising waters near Minton. 
• On 26 January, two emergency services workers - Stephen Rogers, 48, and Michael Hodge, 30, were killed in Minton after their truck was caught in flood waters.