ARTICLE – THE 2010–11 SUMMER OF NATURAL DISASTERS

The natural disasters that struck Australia between November 2010 and February 2011 saw more than 99% of Queensland disaster-declared, with 37 lives lost. During the same period, all other Australian states and the Northern Territory experienced severe weather events or other natural disasters, such as bushfires.

The total cost of relief and recovery will not be completely realised for some years, but the recovery assistance for the 2010–11 natural disasters are well above the historical average. Queensland received an advance payment of $2.256 billion under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements for relief and recovery activities associated with the floods and Tropical Cyclone Yasi, while Victoria received a $500 million advance payment for its flood recovery work.

The Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment (AGDRP) supported over 700,000 Australians adversely affected by these disasters, including:

• Queensland floods in December 2010 and January 2011
• New South Wales floods in January 2011
• Victoria floods in January and February 2011
• Tropical Cyclone Yasi in February 2011
• Western Australia floods in December 2010 and
• Western Australia bushfires in February 2011.

Approximately 3,000 eligible New Zealanders living in Australia received assistance equivalent to the AGDRP.

The Disaster Income Recovery Subsidy was provided to approximately 62,000 eligible employees, small business persons and farmers affected by severe weather in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

A special article, La Niña and the floods of 2010–11, can be found in chapter 1 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE.