Floods down under

[pat foster]

Hope you all are OK.

Pat

[kiwigeo]

Hi Pat,

The floods are in Queensland and theyre bad....really bad. Down here in Adelaide, South Australia were already seeing the effect of the flooding in our fruit and vegetable prices. Much of our fruit and veg comes out of Queensland. Anybody buying coking coal from Australia is going to see price of same sky rocket as 3/4 of Queenslands coal mines are inundated.

If any floods get to Adelaide Im ready...Ive got enough tonewood stashed in my shed to build myself a tonewood ark.

[P Bill]

I'm fitting a small outboard to my double bass. In the s.east corner it's not so bad but all our creeks and rivers up .We're still getting FWD heros wondering how they got into so much trouble.

[Allen]

Christmas Day we had a small cyclone pass the southern edge of Cairns and during the lead up to it there was a huge amount of rain dumped, especially up in the table lands behind Cairns thus putting a few rivers in flood. A mate of mine lives south of town and they have a large property that backs onto the Mulgrave River. The water came up Christmas day higher than the family has ever seen it, and they've been there for 3 generations. Good thing they live on a hill, because down at the highway the water came up to the power lines in places.

We drove through 5 days later and the electricity company had 6 large trucks out there with guys picking the grass and rubbish off the power lines.

[Dennis Leahy]

... the water came up to the power lines in places.

We drove through 5 days later and the electricity company had 6 large trucks out there with guys picking the grass and rubbish off the power lines.

Yikes, that's DEEP!

Hope things dry out soon!

Dennis

[liam_fnq]

In the floods in South East Queensland in 1998 I damaged the prop on my old mans punt on the street light that cantilevered off a power pole. It was about a foot below the water level. I had to move over next to the pole because the power lines were only a foot above the water out in the middle of the span but at the poles were about 1.5m. I assume the power was turned off

[Allen]

That water went down by the afternoon my mate told me.

We're pretty use to rain like that up here, and its rare to see damage like what they are getting down south in the far north. My feeling is that the old timers new how to build and where to build to accomodate those flood events, but now memories are short, and greed by councils and developers has seen vast areas of suburbia built in flood planes on slab foundations. You never see a new home being built elevated like the old Queenslanders were.

[DarwinStrings]

Interesting what you say about development and floods Allen. When the first railway line was to be built heading out of Sydney through Windsor it was to run through my convict transportee ancestor's property. He got a look at the plans and was concerned with where the track was to run so he managed to get a meeting with the planners on his property and pointed out physical evidence of previous flooding. On his advice they moved the track to higher ground and as a consequence of his action gave him his own train stop or siding on his land so he didn't have to cart his butter to far to get it to market. It was called Schofield's siding and is now the Sydney suburb of Schofields. Seems they once listened to the little man.

Jim

[Kim]

OK Jim so how long did it take ur grandad and his mates to hang all that debris in the trees around the intended rout so he could get his own siding...clever bugger your grandad.

Cheers

Kim

[DarwinStrings]

Ha . Shame they were not clever enough to not gamble all that land away on the horses, he didn't lose it but his son, the one who got the lions share of the land (the paternal ancestor we don't mention) enjoyed a bit of a dabble too often.

Jim

[Lillian]

Read about the flash flooding this morning. What a tragedy. How is everyone else doing?

[Kim]

I'm on the wrong side of the island to answer Lil, but its good to see a post from you anyhow...still got ur stuff all safe and sound

Cheers

Kim

[Allen]

Up north the weather is perfect. Bright and sunny and hot.

[sebastiaan56]

OK, this is getting serious. http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/fl ... 5985113281

[P Bill]

The ground here is completely saturated here. The road surfaces are crumbling, the only good thing is I'm able to uproot the most macho stands of lantana with ease. All lutherie has ceased till the atmosphere gets back to normal. We live in a hilly area, getting to the shops and back, that's our worry. My thoughts are with those in real strife.

[Kim]

This situation has developed to be very serious for so many. What is worse is that by all reports its going to get a lot worse over the next few days before it gets better...hope all on the east coast, especially those around Toowoomba/Grantham/Gaton and the rest in and around the Lockyer valley remain safe. 25 to 30 suburbs of Brisbane have been put on flood watch and they are already evacuating people from West End and Fortitude Valley

Peace

Kim

[Nick]

First were the Victorian bush fires, we've had volcanic eruptions, earthquakes now serious flooding the world over....All we need now is disease & pestilance & perhaps the 2012 prediction ain't that far wrong
Thoughts go out to those in the flooded area's & especially those in the Toowoomba 'inland tsunami'.

[Paul B]

Well hopefully the floods will kill the bloody locusts. and everyone was complaining about the friggin drought a year ago.

Got a niece in Toowoomba that we can't contact. My brother-in-law is trapped at work in Gympy manning the local radio station and broadcasting his butt off to keep the locals informed. What a bloody mess.

[DarwinStrings]

Last I heard was 9 dead and 20 odd people missing

Jim

[Kim]

66 missing Jim

[pat foster]

Looking scary there in Toowoomba, and I expect many other places too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUpkPTc ... r_embedded

Pat

[kiwinoz62]

My partner & her 3 daughters are in Queensland on holidays.
They started out at the Gold Coast then thought they would visit my sister/brother-in-law in Toowoomba for a few days, that was Monday.
I got to work at 5pm Monday, watching the news & the news item was the floods at Toowoomba, my heart skipped a beat, then checked my mobile, 5 missed calls, now my hearts really racing.
Finally made contact, everyone safe & OK (phew), but the floods and devastation they have witnessed is horrendous.
The downside, my partner maybe stranded with my sister for a wee bit longer than originally intended

[Clancy]

We have something in common Jim.
My great grandfather's family owned alot of property & land in & around Bondi Junction.
My great grandfather inherited the lot & lost it gambling on the donkeys.
Son's & their father's fortunes......

As for the floods, I'm glad I'm not still living in Clontarf (on Morton Bay, Brisbane).
Always wondered when I'd be using my tinny to float around the backyard.

[DarwinStrings]

More in common than you think Craig, my maternal grandfather owned a few blocks of flats in Bondi (he bought them with lottery money he had won). He arrived home one day to his wife and daughters (my mum and her sisters) in Bankstown to announce (unknown to them up until then) that he had mortgaged the lot and lost it on the horses. It was the final straw for my Gran, she tossed him out for good.

Every time I see the news the amount of missing people is increasing, I just hope they are only missing.

Jim

[liam_fnq]

Things are getting really full on. Brisbane and Ipswich are inundated. 75% of Queensland is a disaster zone. My Sister has evacuated her unit in brisbane. It won't flood but she's lost power and doesn't know when it will be back on. Another mate is in a highrise near the CBD watching yachts, boats still attached to pontoons, floating restaurants and ferry teminals float by. Most of my mates have spent the day down in Yeronga on the river helping randoms get their gear out on other randoms utes. By tonight you wont see the houses' roofs. A very large car ferry at Moggil in Brisbane"s west has broken one of the two cable that is runs across the river on. The concern is that if it breaks free from the other cable it will cause mass carnage on the way down the river or come to rest in suburbia and be unable to move. The premier has asked the military to sort it out. They've flown in two massive sea anchors by blackhawk to slow it down if it dislodges and may still scuttle it yet to mitigate the threat.

My parents in Gympie have been isolated since Saturday. Plenty of food and should be out in the next few days. Don't know how they'll be resupplied food wise though as Brisbane is where all of Queensland's Supermarket stock comes from. Most of the supermarkets in Queensland will already be understocked due to the flooding that is continuing throughout most of the state.

On top of this 10 are dead and 90 odd are missing