Global Hazards - January 2013
Please note: Material provided in this report is chosen subjectively and included at the discretion of the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). The ability to report on a given event is limited by the amount of information available to NCDC at the time of publication. Inclusion of a particular event does not constitute a greater importance in comparison with an event that has not been incorporated into the discussion. Data included in this report are preliminary unless otherwise stated. Links to supporting information are valid at the time of publication, but they are not maintained or changed after publication.
Updated 20 February 2013
Drought and Wildfires
Intense heat and dry conditions in southeastern Australia produced devastating bushfires during January, particularly in Tasmania, an island off the coast of Victoria. On February 1st, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) estimated the insured losses topped $86.5 million (nearly 1,800 claims) in Tasmania due to bushfires occurring since late December 2012. At least 270,000 acres burned and more than 200 structures were either destroyed or damaged in the Tasmanian blazes.
Extreme heat and strong winds fueled bushfires in southern Tasmania, where temperatures in the capital city of Hobart soared to a record daily maximum of 41.8°C (107.2°F) on January 4th, which was its hottest maximum temperature on record for any month since 1883. The city's previous record maximum temperature of 40.8°C (105.4°F) was set in January 1976. Over 130 homes were lost as fires swept through communities east of Hobart in southeast Tasmania and on the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas. In early January, the Forcett fire, which jumped the Arthur Highway, consumed nearly 50,000 acres in nine days and resulted in the fatality of a firefighter, according to media reports. Dunalley, Boomer Bay, and Murdunna were especially hard hit. In Dunalley, some individuals escaped the flames by plunging into the sea, while some were trapped within a vehicle as the flames passed across. Beyond the destruction caused by fire, the residents faced the hazardous issues of asbestos and contaminated water. Fires isolated about 3,000 people on the Tasman Peninsula. More than 1,000 people were safely transported by sea from the Tasman Peninsula to Hobart overnight on January 4th–5th in the initial rescue effort. Emergency shelters were established in Port Arthur and Nubeena, where the Salvation Army provided meals and assistance to the evacuees. A fire near Nubeena burned over 960 acres. Fallen trees and power lines blocked roadways with as many as 300 power poles down. The Australian state of Queensland provided the equivalent of $200,000 U.S. dollars to the country's Red Cross appeal for Tasmania, which collected close to $3.5 million U.S. dollars by the end of January. A dozen of elite New Zealander firefighters arrived on January 9th to provide assistance in battling the fires in Tasmania's steep and remote terrain.
Elsewhere on the Tasmanian mainland, numerous bushfires flared. Along the state's eastern coast, a wind-driven bushfire in the Bicheno region burned nearly 10,000 acres and at least 12 properties, where road closures prevented access to the Freycinet Peninsula. After erupting on on January 3rd near Lake Repulse, a bushfire destroyed several homes, livestock, and farming equipment while burning close to 29,000 acres in the Derwent Valley to the northwest of Hobart. Ignited by lightning on January 3rd, a bushfire in the Southwest National Park scorched nearly 110,000 acres of wilderness around the Giblin River. Damage to some of the Park's track infrastructure forced a temporary closure in the area. Smoke from the blaze reached Hobart. Notably, the bushfire emulated the desired effects of a prescribed burn by reducing forest species that have encroached upon the buttongrass moorland ecosystem. Buttongrass moorland plants (cord rushes, sedges, shrubs) recover quickly from fires and re-sprout.
On the Australian continent, stifling heat and strong winds bolstered New South Wales (NSW) bushfires in early January. Sydney's temperature peaked at 42.5°C (108.5°F) on January 7th. Southward of Sydney, the Yarrabin bushfire charred over 29,600 acres near the Wadbilliga National Park, after flaring on January 6th. Due to its proximity to a former military test range, the Dean's Gap fire created a challenge for firefighting efforts. Dropping water from aircraft presented an unacceptable risk of detonating unexploded ordnance located on the site. Containment lines were formed through bulldozing and the placement of special gel to prevent the fire's spread onto the range. The fire burned around 15,000 acres in the Morton National Park. Devastating livestock losses occurred in the Cobbler Road fire, which scorched more than 42,000 acres near Yass. Nearly 10,000 sheep valued at about $1 million U.S. dollars perished in the state due to bushfires in 2013, while severe damage of pasturelands resulted in fodder shortages, according to media accounts.
In northwestern NSW, lightning likely sparked a fire in the Warrumbungle National Park on January 12th, which scorched around 100,000 acres to the west of Coonabarabran. The ferocious blaze destroyed more than 30 homes and 50 sheds as well as caused extensive losses of farm machinery and livestock. Over 100 residents were evacuated. The inferno damaged at least five structures at the Siding Spring Observatory, but the domed state-of the-art optical telescope remained intact. On-site sensors at the facility recorded temperatures in excess of 100°C (212°F). The Australian National University's precautionary measures of outfitting all buildings with ember filter screens and keeping undergrowth cleared were credited as factors to the survival of the astronomy facility. The ICA estimated insured losses due to the catastrophic fire as about $10 million U.S. dollars.
In Victoria, bushfires resulted in one fatality and the loss of at least eight homes during January. A fire sparking in the Alpine State Park on January 17th near Gippsland scorched at least 118,000 acres. Temperatures in Sydney reached 45.8°C (114.4°F) on January 18th. Earlier in the month, a blaze at Kentbruck consumed over 17,000 acres including a large area of blue gum and pines.
Extreme Temperatures
From late December to mid-January, the Australian continent sizzled under a dome of extreme summer heat. The wide expanse and persistence of the heatwave underscored its unusualness, which followed the country's abnormally hot spring. January 2013 marked Australia's hottest of any month in its 103-year period of record for both mean and maximum temperatures. Notably, eight days of January 2013 exceeded a daily national area-averaged temperature of 39.0°C (102.2°F). The monthly mean temperature (average of maximum and minimum) for Australia was 29.7°C (85.4°F) for January 2013, surpassing the previous two record hottest months of 29.4°C (84.9°F) set in January 1932 and 29.3°C (84.7°F) set in February 1983, respectively. Although a previous lengthy heatwave occurred in late 1972–early 1973, that event spanned a lesser spatial extent. The nation's hottest day occurred on January 7th with a value of 40.3°C (104.5°F), surpassing the previous record of 40.2°C (104.3°F) set on December 21th, 1972. Australia marked a new record for its monthly maximum temperature with a value of 36.9°C (98.4°F) for January 2013, which topped the previous records of 36.8°C (98.2°F) set in January 1932 and 36.5°C (97.7°F) set in December 1972, respectively. During the extreme heat Australian health agencies enacted heat health warning systems. Heatwaves in Australia harm more people than any other natural disaster. Australia's Climate Commission found in 2011 that the heatwaves of recent years have resulted in not only in deaths across the country, but increased hospital admissions for kidney disease, acute renal failure and heart attacks. During January, researchers at Victoria's Monash University prepared location-specific information regarding populations that are vulnerable to heat-related illnesses (elderly, young children, chronically ill, urban areas, and ethnically diverse) to assist government and community service providers in managing emergency response.
The severe heat resulted in the death of numerous birds in Australia. In NSW, flying foxes, a threatened species of bat having a wingspan of more than 1 meter (39 inches), dropped from the skies due to dehydration. An estimated 3,000 bats perished, according to media reports. The mammals, whose feeding behavior facilitates pollination and seed dispersal of native plants, subsist on fruit and flowers.
The continuing heat poses a threat to Australia's wheat crop, especially in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, and New South Wales, as soil moisture became increasingly depleted. Dryness and heat impacted Australia's wheat production in 2012, which fell by almost a quarter from an all-time high of nearly 30 million metric tons in 2011, according to media reports. Australia is the world's second largest wheat exporter.
Flooding
Monsoonal rains inundated parts of northeastern Malaysia in late December 2012 and early January 2013. As much as 300 millimeters (12 inches) of precipitation fell over a two-week period. Over 23,000 residents evacuated and hundreds of homes were lost across the three states of Terengganu, Pahang, and Kelantan. Bottled water and bags of rice were distributed as part of the emergency response efforts. At least seven fatalities resulted from flash flooding in the country where the heavy rains coincided with high tide, according to media reports. Fast-rising waters stranded large numbers of motorists and submerged hundreds of parked vehicles. About 1,000 of the evacuees sought refuge due to the release of water at an irrigation dam construction site, necessitated by mounting pressure on an unfinished wall.
Torrential rains across Indonesia resulted in up to 3 meters (10 feet) of standing water in the capital city of Jakarta. The city's West Canal dike collapsed on January 17th, flooding the central business district. Train services were cancelled when 40 meters (131 feet) of track were destroyed and repairs could not be made until the waters receded. At least 10 million residents were impacted by the monsoonal flooding, where as much as 40 percent of the city is below sea-level. At least 41 people died and over 100,000 people were left homeless as a result of the flooding.
