Australia’s outback becomes an inner sea after torrential rains

In March 2025, an extraordinary deluge in Queensland sparked massive floods through the Australian, overwhelming rivers, insulating cities and causing helicopter evacuations.

Satellite imagery has revealed large expanses of submerged land, flood waters exceeding the 1974 records. Although the region is not unrelated to drought and flood cycles, experts called this extreme event, motivated by convergent flows of wet air. While water goes to Lake Eyre, the rare spectacle could lead to one of the most dramatic interior transformations in Australia.

Flood waters sweep the queensland

At the end of March 2025, intense precipitation in Queensland sparked widespread floods in large parts of the Australian Outback. In some regions, more than a year of rain fell in just a week. The showers have overcome the rivers of the country of the canal, flooding small cities and the vast pasture lands in the southwest of Queensland.

Although the cloud cover has obscured part of the region, the operational land imaging (Oli) on Landsat 8 captured an mainly clear image of Cooper Creek near the city of Windiorah on March 29 (superior image above). For comparison, an previous image of March 5, taken by Oli-2 on Landsat 9, shows the same zone before the start of the floods (lower image above). The two false colors highlights the extent of surface water.

Evacuations and livestock loss

While flooding waters increased, emergency teams organized helicopter evacuations for residents of Windiorah and Jundah, located about 75 kilometers (47 miles) upstream, according to reports. Aerial photos have revealed submerged houses and pastures, and government representatives estimated that more than 100,000 cattle across Queensland were missing or dead.

During the week ending on March 29, some parts of the state received more than 400 millimeters (16 inches) of rain. Crue waters near Windorah, Jundah and other cities have reached higher levels than those observed in 1974, a historic year for outback and the wectual floods ever recorded in Australia. The flooded roads can leave isolated cities for weeks, depending on reports.

Unusual extremes in a region subject to floods

It is typical for the country of Canal to undergo drought and flooding cycles, and wet periods can cause grazing growth, provide water to wetlands and support endemia

“Data-Gt-translate-attrattes =” ({“attribute =” “tabindex =” 0 “role =” link “> species. The experts noticed that the rain and the floods in March 2025 were extreme. They cite several factors for rain, including damp air streams from the North and East which converged inside Queensland. A low pressure hollow has led the air loaded with humidity at higher and cooler levels in the atmosphere to trigger heavy rain.

The floods were widespread in western Queensland, with waters overwhelming thousands of kilometers of road, AFP reported. Modis (moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer) on

“Data-gt-translate-attributes =” ({“attribute =” “tabindex =” 0 “role =” link “> nasaThe Terra satellite captured an image (above) of part of the area affected on March 29, 2025. In this false image, the water appears dark and light blue; The bare floor is brown; And the vegetation is bright green.

Flood waters flow to Lake Eyre

In the coming weeks and months, the water will flow to Lake Eyre (also called Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre), about 600 kilometers southwest of Windorah. The lake is at the lowest natural point in Australia and is dry most of the year. Every few years, water flows to the lake, but it is rare that it is completely filled. After unusual rains in 2019, the Australian Meteorology Office estimated that 80% of the lake area was finally covered by water.

Images of the NASA land observatory by Michala Garrison, using the Landsat data from US Geological Survey and Modis Eosdis Lance and Gibs / World View data.