As everyone knows by now, Mackay has flooded. In hours people have lost everything they own, having had no time to even move their cars. Complaints about there being no warning seem a little ridiculous as the flooding started at around 3AM while most people were asleep. I guess recriminations are to be expected as people need to blame their misfortunes on everybody but themselves. I heard something about Mackay having an early warning system that wasn't used but haven't heard anything more yet. Sarina got around 800mm over the last 10 days but not in the very short time periods that effected Mackay so badly.
An interesting story has been revived, sparked by this flood. A man named Inigo Jones who died in the 50's predicted this flood. He is said to have predicted Australia’s greatest drought would break in November 2007, with its greatest flood and wettest year in 2008. Inigo based his calculations on sunspots and how the magnetic fields of the planets influenced the sun. Proof of sunspot activity affecting the weather is accepted now but Inigo's claims at the time world have been seen as closer to Astrology than Astronomy. He rejected the title of Astrologer basing his predictions on science. The Bureau of Meteorology, on a few occasions, tried to discredit him. Possibly they felt his methods weren't founded solidly enough. He had the backing of the government though and his respect as a meteorologist was not affected.
Interestingly for us we discovered CSR was in partnership with the Inigo Jones Seasonal Weather Forecasting Trust and built an observatory in 1935 that he operated for many years. He was also sought after by many major newspapers for his predictions.
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