Flooding in Queensland

Running Head: FLOODING IN QUEENSLAND 1
Flooding in Queensland
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Flooding In Queensland 2
Introduction
Climate change around the world has made many parts of the world experience extreme
events over the past few years. This is bound to increase in this century as the weather patterns
continue to change. Australia is no exception in experiencing extreme events such as flooding
and more so in Queensland. The purpose of this paper therefore is to examine the social impacts
brought about by floods in Australia, the vulnerability of the communities, adaptive capacity and
how societies adjust to these events in terms of resilience. These paper contains brief information
on topics to be covered in the case study research.
Community Vulnerability and Social Impacts
Vulnerability, in this case, can be defined as the lack of capacity by a community to
perform important adjustments on how to manage an incoming disaster. Community systems
designed to recover from emergencies are being overpowered by these extreme events brought
about by climate change. Vulnerability for this particular study will be covered in five main
topics which are; setting in terms of physical environment, shelter in terms of buildings for
homes, utility infrastructure which include water and telecommunication, security measured in
terms of health and wealth and society which include the community welfare groups (Apan,
2010).
Floods impact the society in a big way. Some of the effects of floods include loss of life,
destruction of property, worsening of health conditions, psychological impacts to the affected
individuals among other indirect impacts. Floods also lead to loss of livelihoods where the
impacts have been severe thus disrupting power-lines and infrastructure. Resettlement is a
common phenomenon when it comes to areas prone to flooding. Resettlement due to floods