ACT's severe weather changes
To prepare for future events we need to understand the past.
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storm
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heatwave
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fire
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earthquake
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flood
Fire 18 Jan 2003
In 2003, the Canberra community was devastated by bushfires. Four people died, a total of 470 homes were destroyed, and 2000 businesses, homes and vehicles were damaged. The insurable loss and subsequent repair bill was more than $450 million.
The Canberra bushfires were the second most expensive bushfires in Australian history, second only to the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983, which devastated Victorian and South Australian bushland and killed 75 people.
Contributing Factors
Southern Australia’s natural environments are some of the most fire-prone areas in the world. High temperatures and limited summer rainfall produces conditions of very high fire danger, particularly in eucalypt forests. Sudden strong wind changes often hamper efforts to control blazes and threaten the lives of fire fighters.
Lightning strikes ignited 160 separate fires, which burned for ten days in the adjoining Kosciuszko National Park, before advancing into Canberra suburbs. Severe drought conditions – low relative humidity and high temperatures that endured – and winds of more than 200kmph led to the severe firestorms.
Many have questioned the development of new suburbs so close to natural bushland. Preparing residents for the fire season, training and equipping emergency response teams and developing adequate building codes to protect houses in fire-prone areas are obvious imperatives
Problems for Residents
Many people suffering from smoke inhalation and other fire-related illnesses flooded the Canberra Hospital. Due to a blackout, power was cut to the hospital and it was forced to rely on auxiliary power. The authority coordinating the bushfire response, the Emergency Services Bureau, based in Curtin, also came under threat. Parts of the Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre were destroyed by fire. Had fire breached and ignited chemical storage tanks, the release of toxic gases could have required large scale evacuations of the national capital.
Canberra suffered not just economic loss but significant social devastation. The deaths of four people in this tight-knit community affected many. Those who lost their homes, loved ones, and livelihoods were affected by depression. Much criticism was unleashed against the emergency services crews responsible for controlling the blaze. Accusations of a lack of preparedness and adequate warning meant that many believed more could have been done to avert disaster. As a result, some emergency workers have also been affected by depression, following the disaster.
Regeneration of the vegetation around Canberra has been delayed by continuing drought in the region. Rangers in the national parks fear that native wildlife numbers might never repopulate to previous levels and species native to the district might be lost forever.
Lessons Learned
The ACT, NSW and Federal governments initiated a number of community and official responses to the Canberra bushfire. In particular, the McLeod inquiry delivered a number of findings ranging from recommending an increase in the provision of equipment, to an increase in the number and training of fire brigade crews. The importance of community education and timely information provision were also highlighted. Additionally, through the use of a purpose built bushfire wind tunnel, CSIRO is researching the behaviour of bushfires in different climatic conditions in an attempt to improve fire-fighting capabilities and community safety.
Case study from Green Cross Australia's 'Extreme Weather Heroes'
1/32 Affected area of the ACT The affected areas of the ACT as based on satellite images from 26 Januar. At this stage fires were still burning in the south of the ACT. Bushfire map by Voyager, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at http://bit.ly/19JYMtL
1/4 2003 bushfires Andrew Stark talks about the devastating 2003 bushfire in ACT.
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1900
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1901
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1902
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1903
- 26 Dec 1903 / Canberra Central
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1904
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1905
- 1 Jan 1905 / Coree, Cotter River, Paddy's River
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1906
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1907
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1908
- 17 Feb 1908 / Queanbeyan
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1909
- Dec 1909 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1910
- 23 Jan 1910 / Queanbeyan
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1911
- Dec 1911 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1912
- 28 March 1912 / Queanbeyan
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1913
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1914
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1915
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1916
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1917
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1918
- 10 Dec 1918 / Coree, Stromlo, Tuggeranong, Weston Creek
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1919
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1920
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1921
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1922
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1923
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1924
- 7 March 1924 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Coree, Gungahlin + 8 other regions
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1925
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1926
- 29 Jan 1926 / Cotter River, Paddy's River, Stromlo
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1927
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1928
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1929
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1930
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1931
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1932
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1933
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1934
- 15 Nov 1934 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1935
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1936
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1937
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1938
- Dec 1938 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1939
- 13 Jan 1939 Black Friday | Royalla Fire / Belconnen, Coree, Cotter River, Paddy's River + 6 other regions
- Dec 1939 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1940
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1941
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1942
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1943
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1944
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1945
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1946
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1947
- Jan 1947 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1948
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1949
- 10 March 1949 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1950
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1951
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1952
- 25 Jan 1952 / Canberra Central, Jerrabomberra, Queanbeyan, Tuggeranong + 6 other regions
- 5 Feb 1952 - Stromlo fire / Stromlo, Tuggeranong, Weston Creek
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1953
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1954
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1955
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1956
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1957
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1958
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1959
- Dec 1959 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1960
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1961
- 9 Feb 1961 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
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1962
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1963
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1964
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1965
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1966
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1967
- 24 Jan 1967 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
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1968
- Jan 1968 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1969
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1970
- 25 April 1970 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1971
- Canberra Woden Valley Flood 26 Jan 1971 / Woden Valley
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1972
- Dec 1972 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
- 21 Dec 1972 - Pago fire / Stromlo
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1973
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1974
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1975
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1976
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1977
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1978
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1979
- Jan 1979 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
- 13 Feb 1979 - Hall and Sutton fire / Belconnen, Gungahlin, Hall
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1980
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1981
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1982
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1983
- 8 Jan 1983 - Gudgenby fire / Cotter River, Rendezvous Creek
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1984
- 9 August 1984 - Oolong Earthquake / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
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1985
- 2 March 1985 / Canberra Central, Jerrabomberra, Majura, Queanbeyan
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1986
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1987
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1988
- Jan 1988 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1989
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1990
- 13 Jan 1990 / Tuggeranong
- 3 March 1990 / Majura
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1991
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1992
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1993
- 5 April 1993 / Majura
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1994
- 8 March 1994 / Tuggeranong
- 6 Nov 1994 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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1995
- 28 Jan 1995 / Canberra Central
- 29 Nov 1995 / Canberra Central
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1996
- 5 March 1996 / Majura
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1997
- 8 Feb 1997 / Kowen
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1998
- 15 Feb 1998 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
- 19 August 1998 / Booth, Cotter River, Mount Clear, Paddy's River + 7 other regions
- 31 Dec 1998 / Booth, Cotter River, Mount Clear, Paddy's River + 7 other regions
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1999
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2000
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2001
- 24 Dec 2001 - Black Christmas / Canberra Central, Jerrabomberra, Queanbeyan, Tuggeranong + 7 other regions
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2002
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2003
- 14 Jan 2003 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
- 18 Jan 2003 / Booth, Coree, Cotter River, Paddy's River + 11 other regions
- 14 March 2003 / Canberra Central
- 24 August 2003 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
- 26 October 2003 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Coree, Gungahlin + 13 other regions
- 16 Nov 2003 / Queanbeyan
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2004
- 2 Nov 2004 / Canberra Central, Belconnen
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2005
- 20 Jan 2005 / Belconnen, Canberra Central
- Canberra Severe Storm Feb 2005 / Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Weston Creek, Woden Valley + 5 other regions
- 13 Oct 2005 / Gungahlin
- 26 Nov 2005 / Canberra Central
- 2 Dec 2005 / Canberra Central, Weston Creek, Woden Valley, Molonglo Valley
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2006
- 6 Jan 2006 / Paddy's River
- 16 Jan 2006 / Belconnen
- 15 Feb 2006 / Belconnen
- 27 Feb 2006 / Canberra Central
- 2 March 2006 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
- 21 April 2006 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
- 13 August 2006 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall + 5 other regions
- 3 Nov 2006 / Belconnen
- 29 Dec 2006 / Queanbeyan
- 31 Dec 2006 / Tuggeranong, Belconnen
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2007
- 10 Feb 2007 / Tuggeranong, Weston Creek
- 23 Feb 2007 / Kowen
- 27 Feb 2007 / Cotter River, Mount Clear, Rendezvous Creek
- 27 Feb 2007 / Belconnen, Canberra Central
- 27 Feb 2007 / Belconnen, Canberra Central
- 18 Nov 2007 / Canberra Central
- 30 Nov 2007 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Jerrabomberra, Queanbeyan + 8 other regions
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2008
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2009
- 2009 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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2010
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2011
- 5 Jan 2011 / Canberra Central
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2012
- 18 Feb 2012 / Gungahlin, Hall
- March 2012 / Cotter River, Paddy's River, Tennent
- March 2012 / Cotter River, Mount Clear, Rendezvous Creek
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2013
- Jan 2013 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Gungahlin, Hall
- Jan 2013 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
- 18 June 2013 / Belconnen, Canberra Central, Hall
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2014
- Jan 2014 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
- 19 Feb 2014 / Belconnen, Booth, Canberra Central, Coree + 20 other regions
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2015
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2016
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2017
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2018
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2019
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2020
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2021
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2022
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2023
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2024
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2025
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2026
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2027
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2028
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2029