Governments urged to invest in roads, water, telecoms to protect against natural disasters

Infrastructure Australia has urged federal and state governments to invest billions of dollars shoring up the country's water supply, roads and telecommunications networks to protect them from national disasters and climate change.

Infrastructure Australia says the summer's fires and the drought have
 highlighted the need to build resilience into the nation's infrastructure.

Releasing its latest priority list, IA chief executive Romilly Madew said years of drought and the summer's bushfires had highlighted the need to ensure the nation's infrastructure was more resilient.

"Compounding issues of unprecedented infrastructure demand, severe drought and other environmental changes require a focus on our resilience strategies and a consensus on where to invest now for our nation's future prosperity," she said on Tuesday.

IA identifies the most pressing major infrastructure needs of the country each year and ranks them in terms of importance. Proposals from governments, councils, lobby groups and the private sector are vetted by the agency.

Read the story from The Age by Shane Wright - “Governments urged to invest in roads, water, telecoms to protect against natural disasters.”

Clean up begins in Giru as record flood recedes, homes spared from inundation

The clean-up is under way as record flooding from the Haughton River clears from roads and properties in Giru, south-east of Townsville.

Giru resident Rodney Jackson cleaning up as
floodwaters recede in the north Queensland town.

Roads to the town were cut as the Haughton reached a record peak of 3.1 metres late on Thursday.

Local State Emergency Service (SES) controllers said no homes were flooded, although floodwaters did reach up to a metre in some parts of the town, with many backyards and car ports flooded.

The local SES and fire station had half a metre of floodwater through their offices.

Read the ABC News story - “Clean up begins in Giru as record flood recedes, homes spared from inundation.”

How heat affects roads, trains and planes

Roads can soften, train tracks do expand and, when temperatures are high enough, the book on how to fly some planes literally hasn't been written.

Cars backed up on the Hume Freeway near Seymour.

This is how heat can affect the three modes of transport we depend on most.

They could "melt" or soften and become sticky.

Roads are made up of a gravel base, bitumen and then aggregate (crushed rock).

Professor Frank Bullen specialises in road pavement engineering and says: "The role of the bitumen is to hold the aggregate in place for the traffic to go over."

Read the ABC News story - “How heat affects roads, trains and planes.”

Victoria storm: keep off the roads, stay at home and prepare for flooding

Keep off the roads, stay at home and prepare for flooding. That was the message from Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, as torrential rain hit the state on Friday.

About 100mm of rain has been forecast for Melbourne between 1 and 3 December.

“With some common sense and looking out for each other, I know Victorians will get through this very difficult period,” Andrews told reporters in Melbourne, as he urged people to leave work early.

He warned Victorians not to become complacent and to check on neighbours and loved ones with more heavy falls to come on Friday night and into Saturday.

In the 24 hours up to 5pm on Friday, the state’s highest rainfall of 73mm was recorded at Arcadia, near Shepparton.

Read The Guardian story - “Victoria storm: keep off the roads, stay at home and prepare for flooding.”