A Country in Shock .....

With  more than 3/4 of Queensland under water and this is a large state (1,852,642 km²⁾; floods in northern NSW, SA, Vic, Tas and WA; cyclone in the Pilbarra (WA); bush fires in near Perth WA...... Australia seems to be playing host to Mother Nature's fury at the moment.

The floods cover a vast area of the state - an area the size of France and Germany combined. 

Received news last night that my niece and her children have evacuated to high ground as their house is in an area of Ipswich that is certain to go under when the flood peak comes through.

Flood waters reached  Brisbane - river expected to peak on Thurs.

I don't think there is anyone in Australia who has not been touched in some way by all this fury.

I just read this - and remember this is only for the Brisbane floods not Ipswich or for the rest of Queensland - 

Up to 40,000 properties are expected to be impacted by flooding by Thursday based on the latest flood modelling.
Of these, 19,700 are residential properties which will have flooding across their entire property. A further 12,000 are expected to have flooding across part of their property.
About 3500 commercial premises will have flooding across their entire property and a further 2500 will have flooding across part of their property.
A further 2300 properties such as parks and vacant land will also be flooded.
The depth of flooding on individual properties is not known because this flood event is expected to exceed all previous records.

Toowoomba

The figures were produced using Brisbane City Council's computer modelling using information provided by the Bureau of Meteorology and SEQ Water.
More than 2100 streets across Brisbane will be impacted.

Sadly 10 people have died in the State and a further 90 are still missing with authorities warning us that the toll will rise.
  

Toowoomba

Toowoomba

I don't think we can really grasp the vastness of the floods. We see pictures from different areas but it is just a drop in the ocean compared to how vast this is. 
The devastation of Toowoomba has created a real impact because it is a city like one many of us live in and is now a ruin. 

Now we see Brisbane - a large city (the state's capital) a ghost town as the flood rushes toward it; Ipswich laying in the path of the deadly torrent.  It is becoming surreal as the magnitude becomes incomprehensible to us.

We try to come to grasp with the numbers but they are so huge that we try and deal with one city at a time.  Rain has eased but is still continuing to fall.

We Aussie's are a strange mob - we are laid back and have a 'she'll be right' attitude but when something happens we are the first to dig into our pockets or to jump to our feet to help in some way.  A telethon raised $10mill in one evening; people from all over Australia have volunteered help in some way or another.  

Facebook and Twitter have been used to send messages of support, help and assistance - people offering to board animals affected, offering accommodation, organising donations, you name it there are people willing to do it.  Our volunteer organisations - SES, Red Cross, Sallies, etc deserve all the help you can give - this crisis is not over and is going to get much worse before it gets better.

I feel such sadness for all those whose lives have been impacted and now forever changed.

If you haven't already watched this footage of the flood reaching Toowoomba take a few moments to watch - it is incomprehensible yet amazing footage!



The irony of all this is that my elder son and his partner move to Queensland next Weds - the house is sold and they have rented a place in Torquay!

They have no idea if they are even going to be able to drive through with so  many roads cut and likely to be cut for a while. 
 

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