The Rains have Spoken… Hearts are broken By Nathan Hadlow

1. Where is this happening? The Rains have Spoken… Hearts are brokenBy Nathan Hadlow Some of the flooded streets in Queensland. Australia’s Crumble Preventing and rebuilding Three months of horror as rain poured. Deaths and people missing. The horror of Australia’s floods. Donate here Donate There… Water Everywhere How to Respond and Learn more

2. Donate here Donate There… Water Everywhere Australia’s Crumble Preventing and rebuilding Where is this happening? The title means the people and environment of Australia. 30 people were killed from December 23rd 2010 to January 23rd 2011. Overall, 75 towns have been affected and over 200,000 people! About and 11,000 homes have water damage. Businesses also have been affected by the flood. About 80 businesses had water damage in Gympie, a city with a population of about 16,000 people. Australia has had poor in the past 40 years! It has had wildfires in 2009 and a series of natural disasters in the 1970’s. Australia’s people have been affected by all of the natural disasters I just said, but we can’t just say that the people are getting affected by this. Plants and animals have also been affected by the flood. Australia’s kangaroo population is at record lows. About half of their population has been wiped out by the rains. Better yet the Great Coral Reef is getting to much freshwater and is destroying it., and it is a great fishing spot and tourist attraction. So now the affected Reef is affecting the citizens of Australia. Researcher Michelle Devlin stated, “This is a really massive event. It has potential to shift the food wed, it has potential to shift how the reef operates.” Many different species of fish and other marine animals are getting extinct because of the lack of food. Lots of money is being spent and people want to prevent any future floods. A couple in their flooded home. How to Respond and Learn more Words to know: Environment: The surroundings of a place. (temperature, plants,etc.

3. How to Respond and Learn more Donate here Donate There… Water Everywhere Where is this happening? Australia’s Crumble For three months rain has pounded down on the people and wildlife of Australia. Most of the rain hit Queensland and neighboring towns and cities. Acting Regional Mayor Tony Perret said, “The water was 5 feet deep on Monday, January second, as I flew over a hotel.” The flooding location was rather bizarre in a couple of ways. One way was that Queensland is pretty far inland, but then again rivers could overflow and caused it. Also the way the flood reached Queensland got citizens surprised. One man said, “Now it is time to be checking on neighbors and the elderly of this unexpected flood. A car stuck in the flood at a mall parking lot exit. A boy and his dad try to get to their car on a street in Australia. Preventing and rebuilding

4. Australia’s Crumble Where is this happening? Preventing and Rebuilding Donate here, Donate there… Water Every where Australia’s government is working on brainstorming ideas to prevent any more future floods. The flood was caused because of the result of two normally unconnected weather phenomena- La Nina, a periodic interaction between the Pacific Ocean and Earths atmosphere, and the annual monsoonal low pressure that brings wet weather to the region. Queensland’s government is thinking that they should have storage for sand bags and building more shelters just in case a flood like this happens again. Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan said, “Business leaders have promised to deliver more-in-kind support to the Queensland recovery effort.” Swan says that they’re going to have enough money, but Prime Minister Julia Gillard thinks otherwise. “We do need more money, we do need in-kind assistance, and we do need the benefits of the kind of expertise that leading business people have, going directly into the communities that are rebuilding after all of the devastation. Queensland officials have said that the price of rebuilding homes, buildings, and infrastructure, coupled with the economic losses could be as high as $5 billion! As more buildings and homes fall with water damage the higher the bill goes. How to Learn more and Reply to this Article A kangaroo sits on a rock stranded.

5. Donate here, Donate there, Water Everywhere Where is this happening? As you know Australia is flooded and needs to spend money to rebuild it. And Queensland’s government wants you to help. The government asks for donations and volunteers to help the citizens affected by the flood. Federal Opposition Treasury Spokesman Joe Hockey said, “If you want to keep Australia’s economy strong, you cannot keep taking a baseball bat to Australian households with more taxes. That is how desperate Australia’s economy is.” Australia’s floods may be as disastrous as the earthquake in Haiti, but Queensland government needs money to rebuild, so citizens can go back to their normal lives. I’m reporter Nathan Hadlow signing off and have a great day. Australia’s Crumble Preventing and rebuilding A pedestrian walks through flooded streets. How to Reply and Learn more about this Article

6. How to learn more and Reply to this Article To learn more go to the websites below: Cnn.com BBC.com CBS.com To reply go to: http://cwatsondps.wordpress Where is this happening? Australia’s Crumble Citizens are forced to sit on their cars and wait for help to come. Preventing and rebuilding Donate here Donate There… Water Everywhere