Australian Towns Face Being Cut Off as Floodwaters Surge South
February 10, 2012, 1:25 AM ESTBy Phoebe Sedgman
Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Australians remain stranded and more towns face being cut off as floodwaters surge south through the nation’s eastern river systems, threatening cotton crops in the world’s third-largest shipper of the fiber.
The towns of Goodooga, Brewarrina, Walgett and Lightning Ridge, about 730 kilometers (453 miles) northwest of Sydney, are expected to be isolated by flooding, New South Wales State Emergency Services said in a statement on its website today. Residents in St George, in southern Queensland, are unlikely to be able to return to the town before Feb. 11 following mandatory evacuations, according to Queensland Police.
Floodwaters have damaged homes, ruined cotton crops and caused cattle sales to be canceled, one year after natural disasters cost the Australian economy A$9 billion ($9.7 billion). Flooding in the two eastern states this year may have caused A$50 million of damage, the federal government said last week. A natural disaster has been declared in 21 areas in New South Wales as authorities build levees in an effort to hold back the torrent.
The deluge may damage as much as 10 percent of the nation’s cotton crop, according to Olam International Ltd. Emergency services have warned residents along the affected rivers to relocate livestock and equipment to higher ground and stock up on food, fuel, medicine and other essential items.
--Editors: Edward Johnson, Robert Fenner
To contact the reporter for this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
