Spatial Information Plays a Key Role in Providing Assistance during the Queensland and Victorian Flood Crises

摘要

The floods that ravaged Australia during December 2010-January 2011 occurred on an unprecedented scale, taking a heavy toll in lives and causing significant property damage. At the time of writing, thirty-five people have died in Queensland since November 30 due to the floods, with an additional fatality in Victoria,1 and another nine remain missing. As the flood crisis is ongoing, it is difficult to produce an accurate estimate of the economic toll of the disaster; however, some figures have been publicly mooted. The Australian government is expecting the floods to cost the country in excess of $5.6 billion (Australian),2 with some estimates going as high as $30 billion.3 The combined costs of these crises are expected to lead to at least a 1 percent drop in Australia's GDP,4 as well as severely affecting Australia's agricultural output and Queensland's key mining industries.