Australian "Biblical Floods" Turn Deadly as First Victim Swept Away from Car in Queensland

It seems that a flood of "biblical" proportions is ravishing Queensland, Australia, as we speak. Days of torrential rain has left northeastern Australia under a sea of muddy water, with the flooding affecting about 200,000 people and climbing. The rain stopped but the rivers are still rising and over-flowing into low-lying communities, according to the Huffington Post.

Australia's "bibilical" flood claimed its first victim when a woman was swept away in her car as authorities warned the waters had yet to peak in the one of the worst affected areas of Queensland. As further thunderstorms were forecast across the region, bringing the potential for flash flooding, residents of the city of Rockhampton braced themselves for the Fitzroy river to reach its peak in the next 48 hours. An area the size of France and Germany combined has been hit by the flooding of three river systems.

The woman who drowned was trying to cross a flooded causeway when her car was swept into a river in Burketown, western Queensland, on Saturday. The body of the 41-year-old was recovered yesterday about a mile away, Queensland police said. Two other people are feared drowned.

In Rockhampton many residents have already fled low-lying areas and up to 40% of the city is expected to be affected.

Read more:  Australian Woman Dies as Queensland Floodwaters Rise | U.K. Guardian

World's Most Expensive Beer, Nail Ale, Brewed by Nail Brewery from Melted Ice from Antartica

World's most expensive beer auctioned for $800 is the Antarctic Nail Ale, made from melted ice from Antarctica.

Antarctic Nail Ale (Elitechoice.org)

Well, the world's most expensive beer is Antarctic Nail Ale. Brewed by Nail Brewing with ice brought back from the Antarctica, a bottle recently sold for $800 at a recent auction in Fremantle. All proceeds from the ale will go to the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which will soon leave on their seventh campaign to stop Japanese killing whales in the Antarctic sanctuary.

According to Beer Advocate, the previous most expensive beer in the world was a $765 bottle of "The end of History" brewed by Brewdog's. In a high alcohol level beer brewing war earlier this year, Scottish brewery "Brewdog's" brewed eleven bottles of 55% Alc beer sold in animal carcasses.

Nail Brewing Australia's brewer John Stallwood says "It is great to sell the most expensive bottle of beer in the world but it is all about a good cause. It is also good that a beer about saving the whales is now most expensive beer in the world rather than high alcohol beer sold in animal carcasses. I think future beers that sell for over $800 won't just be unique but will also be for good causes.

Nail Ale, which is a limited edition beer, only 30 were bottled, was brewed at Edith Cowan University in Perth.  Brewer John Stallwood said, “Over 90% of beer is water, so the Antarctic Nail Ale could possibly be the world’s oldest and purest beer.”

Funnel-Web Spiders Plague Sydney, Australia, Invasion Caused by Unseasonable Rainfall, High Humidity & Lengthy Dry Period

Funnel-web spiders are invading Sydney, Australia and what's scary is that one bite from one of these spiders can kill you in the space of two hours. The funnel-web spider is considered one of the world's most aggressive and poisonous spiders. The males are reportedly deadlier than the females. According to The Independent, the invasion is due to a lengthy dry period, which was followed by unseasonable rainfalls and high humidity during the Christmas season.

Residents of Sydney and nearby areas are encouraged to drop off any captured spiders at a reptile park near the capital where researchers will milk the spiders of their venom to make antidotes. Residents are also being warned not to walk outside barefooted and to check their shoes.

Photo credit: Funnel-web spiders, Backpack Photography/Flickr

Australia's Great Barrier Reef Being Choked by Seaweeds

Great Barrier Reef, Getty Images/Phil Walter

According to an interview held by the Agence France-Presse, Australia's Great Barrier Reef is overgrown in places by seaweed and that could be a worrying indication of the coral structure's health.  A lack of algae-eating fish is a big reason for this trend. Surveys have already shown that the reef is at risk from global warming and more than 40 percent of the areas closest to the shore are overgrown with seaweed. The Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies' Professor David Bellwood said the offshore reefs, those about 12.4 miles from the continent's eastern coast were largely untouched by the algae. He said the best defense for the reef would be clean water and the existence of herbivorous fish which could graze on the weeds.

Article continues http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/seaweed-chokes-australias-great-barrier-reef

Sydney Braces for More Dust Clouds as Authorities Clean Up City from Yesterday's Dust Storm

Forecasters say that the city of Sydney may be hit by more dust clouds this weekend when strong winds blow in from the Australian Outback. This comes as city authorities cleaned up from yesterday's choking storms. The Bureau of Meteorology said winds as fast as 40 miles an hour may blow more dust and top-soil in the country's dry interior tomorrow and cause a haze in Sydney on September 26. Though they are forecasting that it won't be as bad as the previous storm. According to the weather bureau, the dust storm, more than 500 kilometers wide and 1,000 kilometers long, was the largest to hit Sydney since the 1940s and was driven from the drought-stricken Outback by gale-force winds.

About 75,000 metric tons of dust an hour was blown over the city during the peak of the storm yesterday morning, according to the New South Wales state government. More than 100 sweepers took to the streets of central Sydney early today to brush away the dust residue.

Air pollution readings for the region were the highest ever recorded and the state Health Department reported a spike in the number of people needing medical attention for breathing problems. Paramedics treated 218 people in Sydney yesterday for respiratory complaints, it said. Source: Bloomberg

The Bureau of Meteorology said a big cold front in New South Wales caused severe thunderstorms and gale-force winds, which whipped up the dust from the inland and spread it across Australia's most populous state. Winds of more than 100 km per hour also fanned bushfires in the state. We are literally seeing earth, wind and fire manifesting themselves in an unprecedented manner.