Good arvo y’all, welcome to a day where the rubbish weather in Victoria continues. Unfortunately, this state received a heinous amount of rain yesterday, and the situation has only gotten more dire. However, before we get to that crucial news, here’s another important headline:
Medibank Had a Cyber Incident
On October 13, Medibank confirmed that it had detected unusual activity on its network. They responded by engaging with some specialised cyber security firms. As of around 5:00pm, there’s no evidence that any customer data had been accessed.
“I apologise and acknowledge that in the current environment this news may make people concerned,” said Medibank’s CEO, David Koczkar.
“We are working around the clock to understand the full nature of the incident, and any additional impact this incident may have on our customers, our people, and our broader ecosystem.”
We’ll keep you posted if there’s any further info here.
Falls Creek: Landslide, Rain, and Isolation
As per the ABC, the Victorian town of Falls Creek is in for a tough-as-nails time. This is because a slow-moving landslide and rain will probably sever this town from the rest of the state.
Fortunately, the Department of Transport Hume Director, Steve Bowmaker, has noted that the community has acted swiftly. He commented, “We’ve seen quite a lot of traffic coming down the mountain all morning as people have made the decision.”
“There’s also been a few people who have been down to Mt Beauty to do some shopping and get supplies and then go back and dig in for a bit of a longer stay.”
However, Falls Creek isn’t the only Victorian joint that’s currently dealing with issues. The Age has reported that the residents of Rochester are currently facing a one-in-50-year flood or a less likely one-in-200-year flood.
If you need to stay up-to-date in regards to this situation, go to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Warnings Index and learn what the Victorian State Emergency Service (SES) branch is saying.
Tasmanians Are Also Preparing for Flooding
Tragically, there’s another state besides Victoria also facing some wild weather. According to The Mercury, over 100mm of rain has smashed some places in Tasmania overnight and some flash flooding might be on its way.
“Right across the north of the state, we’re looking at rainfalls of as much as 200mm in 36 hours. For some parts of the state, that’s like a quarter or a third of the state’s annual rainfall in 36 hours,” explained the state’s Acting Premier, Michael Ferguson.
“We’re talking about a lot of water. It will lead to flash flooding in some cases, and certainly, the rivers will be rising.”
It’s believed that this weather event will particularly impact the north and north-west of Tasmania. As previously noted, the Bureau of Meteorology’s Warnings Index is an excellent resource. The Tasmanian SES website also has vital information on this subject.
Related: Rare Triple Dip La Niña Expected to Soak Us Through 2023
Related: Is the Wild Weather in Australia Now Due to Climate Change? We Explain
Who Won the 2022 Fat Bear Week Comp?
In some lighthearted news, people across the world have been voting for their favourite brown bear in the Brooks River of Katmai National Park, Alaska. This annual competition is called Fat Bear Week, and it’s all about celebrating these creatures putting a tonne of salmon weight on before going into hibernation.
Moreover, this comp now has a winner.
“Congratulations to 747, our 2022 #FatBearWeek champion! Though he may be blissfully unaware of his two titles, the gains are real,” posted the Katmai National Park in a tweet.
“Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Fat Bear Week,” they also wrote. “We had a record-breaking 1,027,655 votes; that’s a lot of love for these flourishing fat-tabulous bears!”
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