Months of severe weather, including heavy rains and flooding, have wreaked havoc on Australia's southern state of Victoria, severely damaging crops. The wild weather has been prevalent since October, affecting parts of Queensland and New South Wales, and even causing a cyclone that damaged sugar crops in the far north. The latest downpour has flooded fruit orchards and delayed the harvest of wheat and barley.
The heavy rain has led to widespread flood warnings across Victoria, prompting evacuations and causing homes to be inundated. Plum and peach farmers in Victoria's Goulburn Valley have had to abandon damaged fruit due to the rain, a situation exacerbated by a devastating hailstorm a week ago. The Bureau of Meteorology has noted that half of past El Niño events have included heavy rainfall, particularly in eastern Australia.
The wild weather has also led to an increase in insurance claims, with Insurance Australia Group Ltd. reporting around 17,000 claims from December events. Further flash flooding was reported in parts of Queensland on Tuesday. Neil Baker, a farmer in New South Wales, is bracing for more floods in the coming months, following major floods on New Year’s Day.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca