Floods in Parts of Australia

[Suzie Q]

It is pouring here as well. Our flood is getting higher.

 

[Australian]

still raining here too. floods in some houses and the bowling club and one motel in town. Unheard of in our little town.

 

[Suzie Q]

I think there are a lot of places going under that haven't before.

They just had the Mayor for Brisbane on the TV. The water is due to hit there on Thursday. Of course they can't tell how bad it is going to be because it is still raining.

They have been told to make a decision now and if they are going to get out. Get out early.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Hope you guys are ok. They said on tv this morning that 75% of QLD has now been directly affected by the flooding. That's incredible. My thoughts are with you guys up there.

 

[Jalopy]

I've been hearing about your flooding problem all day today and wondering which of you are being affected. Please be careful I understand that flash floods are happening faster and in places not expected to have flash floods. Thinking of you. Good luck.

 

[Australian]

I only have fences to fix, no other problems. It is so sad. Some of the survival stories are starting to come out, they are horrific.

 

[Suzie Q]

I have fences to fix, and our lucerne will probably drown as it doesn't like wet feet. We are using our winter stores as there is nowhere for our cattle to graze.

We are about an hour sideways from Ipswich which is flooding now. It has started going into the CBD in Brisbane, but the major problem there will be tomorrow.

The death toll is now 12 and the missing at the moment is 67.

 

[Australian]

Been fixing fences. Still have a few to go. Lots of work on some of them. Cattle have behaved so far. Staying where they are meant to be.

 

[Suzie Q]

It will be another day or two before our fences are out of the water for me to look at them.

Hubby's work had an email through telling them to turn the TV off as it was getting in the way with work.

 

[Suzie Q]

The Premier is on the TV every 2 hours updating the public. They now have a woman signing beside her for the deaf.

14 deaths so far now. One man so far in Brisbane. He went back to check his father's property. The water looks still on top, but is not underneath. He was sucked into a storm water drain.

 

[Suzie Q]

My Country
Dorothea Mackellar
(1885 - 1968)

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die-
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold-
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land-
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand-
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

Dorothea Mackellar

 

[cowboy43]

3/4 quarters of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone , an area larger than Texas and California combined.

 

[Suzie Q]

Flooding has started in NSW and WA too I believe.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Flooding has started in NSW and WA too I believe.

Canarvon and all through the Gascoyne have been flooded for a few weeks now. Had some friends stranded there for a few days. Pretty well been ignored though :roll: the damage might not be as wide spread as QLD but the damage is just as bad. Government was only going to give them $15,000. Fortunately they've decided to match it with QLDs $25,000. And $3,000,000 to replace all the topsoil lost through the fruit and veg regions.

 

[Australian]

Where do I start. Queensland has been in the news a lot.But there is devastation in our district. Especially on the western side of our area. We are on the eastern side. But fortunately there was no loss of life. No power or telephone for 5 days now. Roads washed away. At least ten homes with up to a metre of water through them. A friend of ours lost 100 large square bales of hay washed away and 5,000 small bales soaked. There are portions of roadway washed away and bridges sitting with no roadway onto them. Not a word from the media about the problems down here. makes a lot of difference when there is a population centre involved.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We keep seeing the devastation on our TV - our prayers go out to you.

 

[aussie_cowgirl]

Where do I start. Queensland has been in the news a lot.But there is devastation in our district. Especially on the western side of our area. We are on the eastern side. But fortunately there was no loss of life. No power or telephone for 5 days now. Roads washed away. At least ten homes with up to a metre of water through them. A friend of ours lost 100 large square bales of hay washed away and 5,000 small bales soaked. There are portions of roadway washed away and bridges sitting with no roadway onto them. Not a word from the media about the problems down here. makes a lot of difference when there is a population centre involved.

I'm not having a go at you guys or anything Colin, I'm annoyed at the media. Unfortunately, and it's the truth, soaked hay bales don't get the viewings that sunken apartments and loss of life do. And that's taking away assistance from areas like yours and the Gascoyne area that are also experiencing great loss. I mean the Gascoyne is home to many many crop, vegetable and fruit farms, fruit orchards that as you can imagine have taken years to establish. And earlier the north had a bad run with their harvest, which was further ruined with their flooding in some parts. Sorry if I sounded like I was attacking anyone, that wasn't my aim, it just depresses me that food production areas might not get the help they need because they aren't as news worthy as urban areas...

 

[Australian]

Totally agree. When a population centre is affected forget about the little towns and food production areas. The media have been ranting and raving about the human hardship in Brisbane. They had plenty of time to move things out of harms way. Cars submerged in water should not happen. The only exception is the horror of the Toowoomba and Lockyer Valley events ( over our side, but I did see the Gascoyne devastation).
There were vehicles submerged in our area but the majority of those were stupidity and not watching where they were going and not listening to road reports. City folk are the silliest in these emergencies. Most don't listen to radio reports or look at the sky.

 

[Suzie Q]

On the news for Qld they have been trying to speak about the rural as well. I could see they were trying quite a bit to make us not feel left out.

On Sunrise, they interviewed Suncorp Insurance who said their all their policies automatically covered flood insurnace. I didn't think any Insurance Company would do that. I am with Suncorp with my car, but I don't think they do farms. I will have to ask.

The Banks, although mine was not mentioned, are suspending interest on loans and credit cards for 3 months. Suspended? Does that mean you don't have to pay it ever or just have to pay it later?

 

[Suzie Q]

Also for Qld, if you are primary producers, in certain areas, you can get help.

$5,000.00 and then if more than that up to $20,000 whichis including the first 5 that you have to show receipts or invoices for.