S8 Ep299: CYCLONE KOJI STRIKES QUEENSLAND AS BUSHFIRES RAGE ELSEWHERE Colleague Jeremy Zakis. Jeremy Zakis reports that Cyclone Koji, described as a "monster" system with winds reaching 90 to 100 miles per hour, struck the Queensland coast near Townsville. Fortunat

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John Batchelor

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🗓️ 11 January 2026

⏱️ 13 minutes

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Summary

CYCLONE KOJI STRIKES QUEENSLAND AS BUSHFIRES RAGE ELSEWHERE Colleague Jeremy Zakis. Jeremy Zakis reports that Cyclone Koji, described as a "monster" system with winds reaching 90 to 100 miles per hour, struck the Queensland coast near Townsville. Fortunately, the cyclone's epicenter made landfall south of the major population centers, resulting in damage primarily restricted to uprooted trees and localized flooding rather than widespread structural destruction. As the system moved inland, it depowered into an "ex-cyclone" bringing heavy rain to a region defined by volcanic rock and sharp cliffs rather than sandy beaches. Simultaneously, other parts of the continent, specifically Victoria and Western Australia, are battling extreme heat and bushfires ignited by lightning storms striking dry undergrowth. In these fire zones, firefighters have been observed rescuing exhausted wildlife, including providing water to dehydrated kangaroos and transporting koalas to rangers for care. NUMBER 1
1933 QUEENSLAND SUMMER

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0:00.0	Hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job.
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0:27.6	this podcast. Indeed.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, do it the right way,
0:34.7	with Indeed. I'm John Batchez. Jeremy Zackas of New South Wales joins me.
0:40.5	This is the Friends History Debating Society, and it is deep summer in the Australian continent,
0:46.8	and that means heat and beach and cyclones. We go immediately to the remnant of a cyclone
0:53.6	called Kji,
0:55.7	north of Brisbane is all I can tell you, and the Great Barrier Reef is somewhere in the vicinity.
1:00.3	Jeremy, a very good day to you.
1:02.3	Cyclones are what we call hurricanes. What did this one look like and what damage did it do?
1:07.7	Good day to you.
1:09.6	Gidey John. Yes, this cyclone was an absolute monster.
1:13.1	It came into the Australian coastline around about two hours ago. So really it's only just starting
1:18.0	to hit us here on Sunday. But it all started really 48 hours ago when a tropical low, which is
1:23.6	effectively a big weather system, which has a lot of rain and wind, actually started to
1:28.5	gain power and it started to get a lot more pressure and a lot more intensity on around about
1:33.6	Thursday this week. And then sure enough, on Friday morning, it was declared a new cyclone and
1:38.5	that cyclone was Koji. So we're talking of winds around about 60 to 70 miles per hour. It was moving quite rapidly towards the Queensland coast.
1:47.1	Luckily, though, it was a long way north of Brisbane.
	...

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