Maharg67 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 The flooding disaster here in Australia is amazing and is said to cover an area equal at least to France and Germany combined. The situation is constantly changing and it is hard to take in. A wall of water hit one town and swept through it in a few minutes. It took everybody by surprise, including the 'experts'. Queensland is a very large state but about three quarters of it is now declared as a disaster zone. The lives of millions of people are very greatly effected. Nobody knows how many have died and will not know until the flood waters subside. I hope that the death toll is quite low. This topic welcomes talk also about other disasters and how people have coped. It would be good to have positivity in this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marharth Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Clearly, the world is ending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vindekarr Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 'Aye mate. I lived in Brisbane for 20 years. When I got up and made coffee this morning, I was as usualy watching the ABC news, after checking NYT and PBS. There I recieved a shock so bad I almost choked on coffee: the street I'd lived in for a long time comepletely under water, my former house, a tall property, with water well above it's stilts and washing onto the front porch. And while my shameful first thought was "glad I wasnt in that, sucks for the tennants though" it really did shock me to see footage of Milton district so badly flooded. I lived there for a long time, I know the area around the Stadium like the back of my hand, to see it a deserted ghost turn, and rapidly turning into a marsh, is genuinely shocking. My grandparents themselves were caught in the flood, but phoned me today: they're OK, thank the gods, but their farm in central Queensland, miraculously, only flooded 70% of it's paddocks, leaving enough space for the cattle on high ground, the houses and building totaly dry, and leaving no permanent damage whatsoever. Frankly I think the work of the SES has been stellar in this situation: there is only so much an individual or organisation can do when faced with a disaster of this vast magnitude, but the SES have been invaluable. FOOTNOTE: For those not from Aus, the SES is an all volunteer organisation that steps in either when other emergancy services need help, or during emergancies. Specialising in rescue, disaster cleanup, search and save in dificult terrain, and all things to do with disaster relief, the SES, in their trademark orange boiler suits, step in whenever they're needed, usualy to a major good effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trapiki Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I used to live in Brisbane and the images on the TV are just shocking! I currently have the TV on at the moment so I can listen to what is going on. I have a friend that lives in Laidley and all of my fathers family lives out in the bay area. This whole mess isn't just going to affect Queensland, it's going to affect the whole country. My father drives for a hire company and he heard a truckie on the radio talking about a round trip to Rockhampton from Brisbane to deliver supplies, it was a 5000km trip because all the major roads are impassable. I doubt they can even do that anymore. Food is going to become very expensive, especially fruit and vegetables. On a somewhat lighter note, my friend in Laidley said this to me. "OMG floods in Brisbane...everyone get out your Shamwow's..we got a city to save!" She said that when she posted that on facebook, people said some nasty things to her. But I think some humour is needed to break some of the tension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roquefort Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Looks like this is now eclipsed, at least as a human didaster, by events in Brazil.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12171710 La Niña again, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannywils Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Clearly, the world is ending. Hmm, wonder if Global Warming might have something to do with it.... By the way, Marhath, what exactly is your Avatar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harbringe Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Clearly, the world is ending. Hmm, wonder if Global Warming might have something to do with it.... By the way, Marhath, what exactly is your Avatar? Sorry Granny it's politically incorrect to call it global warming. It's climate change or the end of the world as Marharth said. His Avatar :the arse end of a fat beetle ,best I can figure out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brokenergy Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Looks like this is now eclipsed, at least as a human didaster, by events in Brazil.. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12171710 La Niña again, I guess. Correct. It's the strongest La Niña in 30 years. This flood may not be as bad as 1974 flood but it was the most damaging of the floods, due to many buildings close to the river. Also Granny, climate change is a more acceptable word to use. Global Warming is an inncorrect term which many people use to describe what's going on when there are other events that are happening that contradict that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marharth Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) Clearly, the world is ending. Hmm, wonder if Global Warming might have something to do with it.... By the way, Marhath, what exactly is your Avatar?I was about to say that. Global climate change might have something to do with it. Also my avatar is supposed to symbolize a decorative mix between a spade and a flower. Edited January 14, 2011 by marharth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverDNA Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) I have a good friend who has family in Brisbane, last time her cousin was here i had the chance to speak to her and after her last visit in Brisbane she brought back about 5000 pictures of a two weeks holidays , about 20% of them from her family there and where they live. So I'm concerned about them, because my friend is concerned. If i look at the news I see mud avalanches in Rio de Janeiro, flooding in middle Europe because of thaw and blizzards in America, aside from the dramatic pictures of people either saving there lives or there property in Queensland. But I see that neighbours help each others as well and I see that people are happy who are saved and I see that those people there are helping each other to survive. They do the best in the situation help and after the catastrophe then they will get help too and I say that because i know that others around the world like me are worried about them and are happy if they get news from people that live there who we know and know they need help to rebuild what they have lost. My opinion on Global climate change in all above ( the flooding of Queensland, blizzards in America, the middle Europe thaw, mud avalanches due to heavy rain in Rio de Janeiro) mentioned water is involved so I'm pretty sure that that it has something to do with the melting of the poles. Due to political incompetence of our nations leaders the Kyoto Protocol ends 2012 and northing comes after that is at least acceptable to get the global changes of +2° Celsius (scientist that are less dependant from political founding are calculating with more) at least that will stop to reduce the sources of the melting of the poles that are an effect of the global climate change. Now I'm getting back to worry about my friends cousin from Brisbane. Edited January 14, 2011 by SilverDNA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts