Queensland Floods Research Articles

Using a Heuristic-Systematic Model to assess the Twitter user profile’s impact on disaster tweet credibility

Journalists, emergency responders, and the general public use Twitter during disasters as an effective means to disseminate emergency information. However, there is a growing concern about the credibility of disaster tweets. This concern negatively influences Twitter users’ decisions about whether to retweet information, which can delay the dissemination of accurate—and sometimes essential—communications during a crisis. Although verifying information credibility is often a time-consuming task requiring considerable cognitive effort, researchers have yet to explore how people manage this task while using Twitter during disaster situations.To address this, we adopt the Heuristic-Systematic Model of information processing to understand how Twitter users make retweet decisions by categorizing tweet content as systematically processed information and a Twitter user’s profile as heuristically processed information. We then empirically examine tweet content and Twitter user profiles, as well as how they interact to verify the credibility of tweets collected during two disaster events: the 2011 Queensland floods, and the 2013 Colorado floods. Our empirical results suggest that using a Twitter profile as source-credibility information makes it easier for Twitter users to assess the credibility of disaster tweets. Our study also reveals that the Twitter user profile is a reliable source of credibility information and enhances our understanding of timely communication on Twitter during disasters.

Disaster-related prenatal maternal stress, and childhood HPA-axis regulation and anxiety: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

BackgroundThe fetal programming hypothesis suggests that prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) influences aspects of fetal development, such as the Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis, enhancing susceptibility to emotional problems. No study (to our knowledge) has investigated this pathway considering development of preschool anxiety symptoms.Using data from the Queensland Flood study (QF2011), our objective was to determine whether toddler HPA-axis functioning mediated the association between aspects of flood-related PNMS and child anxiety symptoms at 4-years, and whether relationships were moderated by the timing of the stressor in utero or by the child’s sex. MethodsWomen, pregnant during the 2011 Queensland floods (N = 230), were recruited soon afterwards and completed questionnaires regarding their objective hardship (e.g., loss of personal property), subjective distress (post-traumatic-like symptoms) and cognitive appraisal of the disaster. At 16 months, indexes of the child’s diurnal cortisol rhythm (awakening response, total daily output, diurnal slope [N = 80]), and stress reactivity (N = 111), were obtained. At 4-years, N = 117 mothers reported on their own mood and their children’s anxiety symptoms; of these, N = 80 also had valid child cortisol reactivity data, and N = 64 had diurnal cortisol rhythm data. ResultsA greater cortisol awakening response at 16 months mediated the relationship between subjective PNMS and anxiety symptoms at 4-years. Greater toddler daily cortisol secretion predicted more anxiety symptoms, independent of PNMS. The laboratory stressor did not elicit a cortisol response. PNMS effects were not dependent upon child sex nor on gestational timing of flood exposure. ConclusionsIndexes of diurnal cortisol in toddlerhood may represent vulnerability for anxiety symptoms in preschoolers, both independent of, and following, exposure to disaster-related prenatal maternal subjective distress.

Coping During Pregnancy Following Exposure to a Natural Disaster: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

IntroductionThis study investigated how coping strategies moderated the impact of disaster-related objective hardship on subjective distress in pregnant women. MethodsThe objective hardship (exposure severity), subjective distress (Peritraumatic Distress Inventory, Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire and Impact of Event Scale-Revised) and coping styles (Brief COPE) of pregnant women (N = 226) exposed to the 2011 Queensland, Australia flood were assessed. Moderation analyses were used to assess how coping strategies moderated the relationship between objective hardship and subjective distress levels. ResultsWe found that the more severe the objective flood exposure, the greater the women's subjective distress. The moderation analyses were significant for the Brief COPE's three coping styles (i.e., problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and dysfunctional coping). For women experiencing high levels of objective hardship, problem-focused (∆R2 = 1.7%) and dysfunctional coping (∆R2 = 1.5%) elevated subjective distress levels. For women experiencing low or moderate levels of objective hardship, emotion-focused coping reduced levels of subjective distress (∆R2 = 1.3%). A three-way interaction between objective hardship, emotion-focused coping, and dysfunctional coping approached significance (∆R2 = 1.0%), indicating a protective role of emotion-focused coping under high levels of objective hardship, for women who frequently use maladaptive coping strategies. LimitationsSample was generally high SES and no measure of social support was available. ConclusionResults suggest that both problem-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies were maladaptive for women with relatively high exposure levels. Overall, emotion-focused coping strategies were more likely than problem-focused or dysfunctional strategies to reduce pregnant women's subjective distress following the flood.

Five days of swirling fury: Emotion and memory in newspaper anniversary reports of the 1974 Queensland floods

The news media has an important role to play in constructing and maintaining memories of disasters. This paper examines newspaper reporting on the anniversaries of significant disaster events. In particular, the article focusses on the role of emotions in reporting of a devastating flood in the Queensland cities of Brisbane and Ipswich in 1974. The paper traces anniversary reporting in newspapers from 1975 until 2010, the year before another substantial flood hit both cities. We argue that, by ascribing particular emotions to various actors within the floods, the media set boundaries around possible responses to future disasters and failed to address changing social, environmental and political contexts. Given the likelihood of increased flood risk due to a changing climate, and in the context of government policies which define disaster management as a shared responsibility across the public and private sectors, the paper calls for more active forms of media memory-making which more effectively increase community resilience.

How structural mitigation shapes risk perception and affects decision-making.

This paper reviews the relationships between risk perception and structural measures in an Australian context in three respects: (i) opinions about authorities' ability to mitigate flood risks; (ii) the role of flood experience in shaping views on risk; and (iii) perspectives on the ways in which structural measures shape decision-making pertaining to protective action. The main finding of this analysis is that the study participants do not suffer from the 'levee paradox'. Most take precautionary steps to guard against residual flood risk. Such actions, however, do not mean that there is a lack of trust in structural measures to reduce significant flood risk. The majority of the respondents agreed about the necessity of engineering structures to mitigate inherent flood risk. This support, though, does not extend to their management. Losses during major flooding in southeast Queensland, Australia, in 2010-11 were attributed primarily by residents to operational decisions concerning dam water releases.

10 Migrants caught in crises: Contexts, responses and innovation

10 Migrants caught in crises: Contexts, responses and innovation

Developing community disaster resilience through preparedness

Disasters have the potential to cause great devastation, such as significant human, material and environmental loss. Due to the increase in disaster frequency and impacts, there has been a shift in focus from disaster recovery and response to disaster prevention. Preventative disaster management is essential in reducing and eliminating community disaster risk exposure. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of three past events including the 2011 Queensland floods, the Harrietville Community Emergency Management Plan and the Christchurch and Japan earthquakes. By combining the existing literature, secondary qualitative data analysis, a conceptual model of disaster management has been developed. The findings of this research include; the development of a conceptual model that present new concepts to improve the community resilience capabilities; identification of effective methodologies for developing community resilience; the potential implementation of social media as a preparedness strategy; and discussion on community empowerment and a shared responsibility amongst all agencies.

Determining disaster severity through social media analysis: Testing the methodology with South East Queensland Flood tweets

Social media was underutilised in disaster management practices, as it was not seen as a real-time ground level information harvesting tool during a disaster. In recent years, with the increasing popularity and use of social media, people have started to express their views, experiences, images, and video evidences through different social media platforms. Consequently, harnessing such crowdsourced information has become an opportunity for authorities to obtain enhanced situation awareness data for efficient disaster management practices. Nonetheless, the current disaster-related Twitter analytics methods are not versatile enough to define disaster impacts levels as interpreted by the local communities. This paper contributes to the existing knowledge by applying and extending a well-established data analysis framework, and identifying highly impacted disaster areas as perceived by the local communities. For this, the study used real-time Twitter data posted during the 2010–2011 South East Queensland Floods. The findings reveal that: (a) Utilising Twitter is a promising approach to reflect citizen knowledge; (b) Tweets could be used to identify the fluctuations of disaster severity over time; (c) The spatial analysis of tweets validates the applicability of geo-located messages to demarcate highly impacted disaster zones.

Forecasting the extreme rainfall, low temperatures, and strong winds associated with the northern Queensland floods of February 2019

From late January to early February 2019, a quasi-stationary monsoon depression situated over northeast Australia caused devastating floods, killing an estimated 625,000 head of cattle in northwest Queensland, and inundating over 3 000 homes in the coastal city of Townsville. The monsoon depression lasted ~10 days, driving daily rainfall accumulations exceeding 200 mm/day, maximum temperatures 8–10 °C below normal, and wind gusts above 70 km/h. In this study, the atmospheric conditions during the event and its predictability on the weekly to subseasonal range are investigated. Results show that during the event, the tropical convective signal of the Madden-Julian Oscillation was over the western Pacific, and likely contributed to the heavy rainfall, however the El Niño-Southern Oscillation was not in the usual phase for increased rainfall over Queensland. Over the northern Tasman Sea, an anticyclone helped maintain a positive phase of the Southern Annular Mode and promote onshore easterly flow. Somewhat consistent with these climate drivers, the monthly rainfall outlook for February issued by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology on 31 January provided no indication of the event, yet forecasts, not available to the public, of weekly-averaged conditions by the Bureau's dynamical subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) prediction system were more successful. For the week of 31 January to 6 February the prediction system forecast a more than doubling of the probability of extreme (highest quintile) weekly rainfall a week prior to the event, along with increased probabilities of extremely low (lowest quintile) maximum temperatures and extreme (highest quintile) wind speeds. Ensemble-mean weekly rainfall amounts, however, were considerably underestimated by the prediction system, even in forecasts initialised at the start of the peak flooding week, consistent with other state-of-the-art dynamical S2S prediction systems. Despite this, one of the individual ensemble members of the Bureau's prediction system did manage to forecast close to 85% of the magnitude of the rainfall across the most heavily impacted region of northwest Queensland a week before the event. Predicting this exceptional event beyond two weeks appears beyond our current capability despite the dynamical system forecasts showing good skill in forecasting the broad-scale atmospheric conditions north of Australia a week prior.

Discussion on 'Large floods in South East Queensland: is it valid to assume they occur randomly?' by GM McMahon and AS Kiem

"Discussion on 'Large floods in South East Queensland: is it valid to assume they occur randomly?' by GM McMahon and AS Kiem." Australasian Journal of Water Resources, 23(2), pp. 148–149

Response to Robert French’s discussion on “Large floods in South East Queensland: is it valid to assume they occur randomly”

Response to Robert French’s discussion on “Large floods in South East Queensland: is it valid to assume they occur randomly”

Role of structural analysis in floodway design process

ABSTRACTFloodways are road infrastructure designed to be overtopped during flood events of relatively low average recurrence interval. When the floodwater recedes, floodways are expected to be fully functional. The 2011 and 2013 Queensland floods caused many road structures like floodways to sustain frequent damage and in some instances fail causing major disruption to communities. This research considered the Lockyer Valley as a case study region to identify the common structural attributes relating to the most vulnerable floodways. It was discovered that the most vulnerable floodways did not have culverts, the slab decks were typically made from concrete and they were of a single lane width. Having reviewed the limitations of two-dimensional finite element analysis, a three-dimensional structural analysis approach for floodways was investigated and detailed. Results from this analysis provide a basis for floodway structural design graphs and adjacent soil/rock protection vulnerability analysis. An example design chart is provided demonstrating the intended outcome of the identified finite element analysis procedure to satisfy floodway structural resilience during flood events.

Toddler Temperament Mediates the Effect of Prenatal Maternal Stress on Childhood Anxiety Symptomatology: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study.

It is not known whether alterations to temperamental characteristics associated with prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) exposure account for the development of childhood anxiety symptomatology (internalizing behaviors and anxiety symptoms). The QF2011 Queensland flood study examined whether (1) toddler temperamental characteristics explained the association between PNMS exposure and childhood anxiety symptomatology; and (2) whether effects were dependent upon child sex or the timing of gestational exposure to PNMS. We investigated the effects of various aspects of flood-related stress in pregnancy (objective hardship, cognitive appraisal, subjective distress) on maternal report of 16-month toddler temperament (attentional control, shy-inhibition, negative reactivity), 4-year maternal-reported childhood anxiety symptomatology (internalizing and anxiety symptoms; N = 104), and teacher reports of internalizing behaviors (N = 77). Severity of maternal objective hardship during pregnancy and shy-inhibited behaviors were uniquely associated with 4-year child anxiety symptoms. Mediation analyses found that higher levels of 16-month negative reactivity accounted, in part, for the relationship between increased maternal objective flood-related hardship and greater internalizing behaviors (maternal but not teacher report). Neither child sex nor gestational timing of exposure moderated the hypothesized mediations. Our findings highlight several pathways through which varying aspects of disaster-related PNMS may influence early childhood anxiety symptomatology.

A cross-lagged panel analysis of children's sleep, attention, and mood in a prenatally stressed cohort: The QF2011 Queensland flood study

BackgroundIt is well recognized that childhood sleep, attention and mood problems increase risk for multiple adverse outcomes across the life-span; therefore, understanding factors, such as prenatal maternal stress, that underlie these types of childhood problems is critical for developing interventions that may optimize longer-term functioning. Our goal was to determine the association between disaster-related stress in pregnancy and young children's sleep, attention, and anxious/depressed symptoms. MethodsSoon after a major flood in Australia in 2011, we assessed various aspects of disaster-related prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) in women who had been pregnant at the time. Mothers rated several domains of their children's development with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at ages 2½ (n = 134) and 4 years (n = 118). ResultsThe primary finding was that more severe objective flood-related hardship in pregnancy predicted higher sleep problem scores at 2½ years, and that a negative maternal cognitive appraisal of the flood predicted lower attention problem scores at 2½ years. A cross-lagged panel analysis examined the association between children's sleep, attention, and anxious/depressed symptoms within and across ages. Results showed that these problems were likely to co-occur at each age, and that they were stable from 2½ to 4 years. Additionally, anxious/depressed scores at age 2½ predicted sleep problem scores at 4 years, all else being equal. LimitationsLimitations of the study include a relatively small sample size and the children's outcome data relied on maternal report using the CBCL, rather than independent observation of the children's functioning, which may have introduced reporter bias. ConclusionsThese findings highlight the importance of early intervention for these childhood problems to optimize long-term mental health, particularly under conditions of prenatal stress.

Discovering Best Practice Establishing Evacuation Centers for Vulnerable Populations: Findings from Australia and Japan

Introduction:Potentially vulnerable population groups in disasters include the elderly and frail, people who are isolated, and those with chronic diseases, including mental health conditions or mobility issues. The disasters such as the Queensland flood and Great East Japan Disaster in 2011, affected regions of Australia and Japan. This study is followed by two pilot studies in both countries after the disasters. While both countries have different evacuation center procedures for evacuees, the issues regarding the role and responsibility across governments involving planning, setup, and management of evacuation centers demonstrate similarities and differences.Aim:This paper will report the preliminary findings of a pilot study undertaken with local government officials and humanitarian agencies in Australia and Japan concerning their involvement in planning for, setting up, and managing evacuation centers for vulnerable populations in recent natural disasters. The objective is to illuminate the similarities and differences that officials and agencies faced, and to highlight the resolutions and lessons learned in the preparation of evacuation centers through this event.Methods:This is the final stage of the study. After completing an analysis of both phases, a comparative framework to highlight similarities and differences was developed.Results:Each government’s role in relation to the establishment of evacuation centers is legally defined in both countries. However, the degree of involvement and communication with non-governmental organizations from the planning cycle to the recovery cycle demonstrates different expectations across governments.Discussion:While the role of governments is clearly established in both countries based on the legal frameworks, the planning, set-up, and management of evacuation center differs.

Discovering Best Practice for Establishing Evacuation Centers for Vulnerable Populations: Findings from an Australian Pilot Study

Introduction:Potentially vulnerable population groups in disasters include the elderly and frail, people who are isolated, and those with chronic diseases, including mental health conditions or mobility issues. The 2011 Queensland flood disaster affected central and southeast Queensland, resulting in 2.5 million people being adversely affected. Seventy-two local government areas disaster were activated under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements, which was more than 99 percent of Queensland. The issues regarding the role and responsibility across governments relating to planning, setup, and management of evacuation centers will be discussed.Aim:This paper will report the preliminary findings of a pilot study undertaken with local government officials and humanitarian agencies in Australia concerning their involvement in planning for, setting up, and managing evacuation centers for vulnerable populations in Australia during the Queensland floods in 2011. The objective is to illuminate the challenges officials faced, and the resolutions and lessons learned in the preparation of evacuation centers through this event.Methods:The study involved interviews with local government and relevant agencies’ officials who have been involved in establishing evacuation centers for vulnerable populations during the 2011 floods. Six officials were recruited from local government areas affected by the disaster in Queensland, Australia. Semi-structured phone interviews were audio-recorded and thematic analysis was conducted using NVivo software.Results:Three core themes emerged: 1) understanding of the importance of preparation, 2) challenging evacuation center environments, and 3) awareness of good governance principles.Discussion:This pilot study demonstrated that communication with stakeholders during the preparation period prior to a disaster is essential to best practice for evacuation center management. Understanding and being aware of good governance is also an important element to establish evacuation centers effectively.

An Unmitigated Disaster: Shifting from Response and Recovery to Mitigation for an Insurable Future

Australian households are increasingly vulnerable to natural hazard-related disasters. To manage disaster risk, government commissioned inquiries have called for greater investment in mitigation. This article critically examines the call for a shift in funding priority towards pre-disaster mitigation measures, in the context of growing concerns around the ability of households to access and afford insurance. It examines mitigation measures in the context of three prominent Australian disasters: the Black Saturday bushfires (Victoria, 2009), the Queensland floods (2010–2011), and Cyclone Yasi (Queensland, 2011). We argue that as a mode of disaster security, mitigation operates as a complex assemblage of logics and practices of protection, preparedness, and resilience, which problematizes simplistic protection/resilience binaries. On the one hand, mitigation serves as a mode of protection, which underscores the dominant maladaptive rationality of insurance. It promises a collective solution to uninsurability that is limited by government fiscal constraints and growing employment of risk-reflective insurance pricing. On the other hand, there is evidence of an emergent rationality of household insurance as a path to resilience and preparedness—for example, in the development of insurance systems that price household retrofitting technologies and in the development of policyholder education campaigns. This resilience rationality holds the promise of securing individuals previously excluded from insurance. However, for householders lacking the necessary physical, cognitive, and financial capacities to make themselves and their properties resilient, the transition to a pre-disaster mitigation mode of security will likely do little to alleviate disadvantage and marginalization.

Infant Behavior and Competence Following Prenatal Exposure to a Natural Disaster: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study.

This study utilized a natural disaster to investigate the effects of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) arising from exposure to a severe flood on maternally reported infant social-emotional and behavioral outcomes at 16months, along with potential moderation by infant sex and gestational timing of flood exposure. Women pregnant during the Queensland floods in January 2011 completed measures of flood-related objective hardship and posttraumatic stress (PTS). At 16months postpartum, mothers completed measures describing depressive symptoms and infant social-emotional and behavioral problems (n=123) and competence (n=125). Greater maternal PTS symptoms were associated with reduced infant competence. A sex difference in infant behavioral problems emerged at higher levels of maternal objective hardship and PTS; boys had significantly more behavioral problems than girls. Additionally, greater PTS was associated with more behavioral problems in boys; however, this effect was attenuated by adjustment for maternal depressive symptoms. No main effects or interactions with gestational timing were found. Findings highlight specificity in the relationships between PNMS components and infant outcomes and demonstrate that the effects of PNMS exposure on behavior may be evident as early as infancy. Implications for the support of families exposed to a natural disaster during pregnancy are discussed.

The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene and child's sex moderate the relationship between disaster-related prenatal maternal stress and autism spectrum disorder traits: The QF2011 Queensland flood study.

The 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter has been shown to play a role in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Moreover, disaster-related prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) has also been shown to be associated with ASD. However, no study to date has examined whether these two factors, either individually or in combination, are predictive of ASD traits in the same sample. We hypothesized that children, particularly boys, with the LL genotype exposed to high levels of disaster-related PNMS would exhibit higher levels of ASD traits compared to boys with the LS or SS genotypes and girls regardless of genotype. Genotype and ASD levels obtained using the Australian normed Autism Spectrum Rating Scales - Short Form were available for 105 30-month-old children exposed to varying levels of PNMS following the 2011 Queensland Flood. For boys, higher ASD traits were associated with the 5-HTTLPR LL genotype in combination with either a negative maternal appraisal of the flood, or high levels of maternal composite subjective stress, PSTD-like or peritraumatic dissociation symptoms. For girls, maternal peritraumatic dissociation levels in combination with the 5-HTTLPR LS or SS genotype were associated with higher ASD traits. The present findings are the first to demonstrate that children's genotype moderates effects of disaster-related PNMS on ASD traits, with different pattern according to child sex.

5.52 Toddler Cortisol Profiles Predicts Early Childhood Anxiety in a Prenatally Stressed Cohort: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

5.52 Toddler Cortisol Profiles Predicts Early Childhood Anxiety in a Prenatally Stressed Cohort: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study