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My Experience in the QLD floods
Topic Started: Sep 30 2011, 10:24 PM (304 Views)
[ANWA]dad2
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I have been thinking about this a lot and I feel I should write something on it. May as well get it out. Here's my experience of the QLD floods.

******************************************************************
It is January 2010. I see on the news that it is predicted that Brisbane could possibly be flooded in the next week or so. Of course I am worried, but I dismiss that it could ever do any serious damage. Boy, was I wrong.

The floods roll in. All I can do is helplessly watching the news as people die, and homes and communities are torn apart. Everyday, I am confronted by more scenes of destruction, some hitting quite close to home.

Power is eventually disabled to ensure that the transformers that power the city don't overload. We lose power. That was the darkest night ever. No lights anywhere; just an eerie silence. The death toll mounts by the day. Whole communities are washed away right before my eyes.

All I wanted to do was get out there and help. But I couldn't and I guess I still feel guilty about till this day. Sometimes it is just better to stay inside were the words hammered into me.

Eventually it was safe enough to go out and have a look at the destruction caused. I remember standing on a bridge watching the Brisbane River flow aggresively with debri scattered all throughout it. Next I heard the guy right next to me had lost his house. I had never felt so bad.

I also remember standing down near a local highschool. The main road running adjacent to it had been flooded. All you could see was the tops of houses and street signs. It was such a peculiar sight that I think I probably won't see again.

Next I remember standing on top of a hilly street. In one direction was the local park. In the other direction was a whole suburb. Underwater. For as far as the eye could see. Again all there was, was water. It just seemed to go on forever.

I remember standing on the waters edge of the park and seeing 2 guys on a canoe appear out of nowhere. I didn't know how long they had been rowing for. Boats and small watercraft were now the vechile of choice.

It is haunting that only a few kilometres away from me the whole place was underwater.

To this day, It still saddens me when I remember the floods. So many good lives lost. The pain of not knowing was the worse. You see natural disasters all the time, but you never truly understand what it is like to go through one until you experience it yourself.

In light of this all, this experience has made me imensly proud to be a Queenslander. Everyone had pains and troubles of their own. But they all pithed in and did their part. The community spirit and turnout was inspiring. The whole of Brisbane just seemed to unify and come together overnight. We dubbed them the "Mud Army." They were a truly inspiring sight. I still wish I could of helped to this day. It still wracks me with guilt today.

***************************************************************

And that is my experience of the floods that hit Queensland in January this year. Glad to get it off my chest.

Peace.

cheers
dad2



Edited by [ANWA]dad2, Sep 30 2011, 10:28 PM.
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Luminal
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I think it's still hard to grasp for non Queenslanders how hard your state was hit. I remember watching Sky News in disbelief but seeing Anna Bligh on every few hours updating news on the situation was reassuring.

It wasn't just at home though! The Earthquake in Christchurch, the Tsunami and proceeding nuclear scare in Japan coupled with our Floods seemed to have forever scarred the early part of 2011. Thank you Dad2 for telling us your story! I'm glad you and your family were safe.
Edited by Luminal, Sep 30 2011, 11:23 PM.
ANWA*LUMINAL - "I speak my mind..sometimes you may not like what my mind has to say!"
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[ANWA]dad2
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Quote:
 
I think it's still hard to grasp for non Queenslanders how hard your state was hit.


I think your right there Ned. It seemed at one point that the whole state was underwater, and cut off from the rest of Australia. It's a wierd feeling knowing that your city is completely flooded and surrounded by water and flooding with no way out.

Thanks for your concerns Luminal. It genuely warms my heart.

In the end everything turned out fine, but I just feel bad for those people dealing with insurance companies. There was a spokesman on the news for one of them and he stated that "victims could hire a (forgot the name, something weathery) to inspect their home to investigate the cause of the flood". That just completely blew my mind, as you cannot seriously expect people who have just lost everything to be able to do that!


cheers
dad2
Edited by [ANWA]dad2, Sep 30 2011, 11:40 PM.
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Luminal
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I think your right there Ned.

Thanks for your concerns Luminal.

Sorry to be funny but you do know that Ned and I are different people?

Anyway I know people are still suffering from this. Many not only lost loved ones but houses that sometimes weren't covered by insurance. Thankfully Australians were generous in their donations and many volunteers saved the state from a worst fate. In all dark days, the light of the human spirit shines brightest.
Edited by Luminal, Oct 1 2011, 12:00 AM.
ANWA*LUMINAL - "I speak my mind..sometimes you may not like what my mind has to say!"
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Yeah I remember one day turning on the TV to watch a movie (I hadn't heard about the floods at this point) and just watching in disbelief what was going on...

Wow dad2 I must say you were very lucky not to have been badly affected physically, but mentally there will always be the memory, which can be the worst for some people.. it's good to see you actually talking about it as bottling up emotions and feelings can be deadly :)

At least look at the brighter side. No matter what seems to happen, you Australian's always manage to bounce back and do something instead of sitting back and letting events unfold. I am 110% that Brisbane, and Queensland as a whole, will be back to normal by the end of 2012, if they aren't already.

I mean look at Victoria (I hate to use Victoria as an example but still), in 2009 the 'Black Saturday' bushfires destroyed a lot of land and killed many innocent people. The damage may not have been as severe as in Queensland, but Victoria is basically back to normal, and have been since the end of 2010.

As for the victims of the floods, don't feel guilty about not helping them... there wasn't anything that anyone could have done. At least they are in a better place now :)
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Yes this was really terrible news, I remember watching on the t.v and just being shocked. It's terrible that so many people lost their lives and homes and I'm glad your family are okay. I always wondered what ANWAs were there.
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When all this came on the TV I was like crap I hope everyone up there is OK.
I think I sent you a PM didn't I dad2 to make sure you were OK up there.

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[ANWA]dad2
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Well I had a look....I can't see one, but there is always the possibility I missed one as my computer has been very laggy and is aspiring to be the next WA state internet speed record holder (It's swimming up shit creek with half a paddle).

I think I got a bit of film of the Brisbane river. Just a few quick ones showing the brisbane river flowing. I'll see if I can find em/dig em up off the computer.

cheers
dad2
Edited by [ANWA]dad2, Oct 3 2011, 11:02 PM.
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ANWA-$ama$
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OMG you really did go through hell and back.
I'm just glad that you are your family are ok. :)
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ANWA-Cardeecore
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Well i remember getting picked up for work at 630am, then to see round the corner was a heap of water covering the road, i txted my wife to let her know it was down there but no where near our house. As we were going to the job, a main street has been blocked off from water so we detour.

Then i get a call 2 hours later from my wife about water creeping up from behind the neighbors house across the road. I get back to my place and water is cover the whole street, by about 15cms. my whole family and some friends were at the house moving stuff high, and putting stuff in cars. Ended up staying at my parents place down the road.

I felt sorry for one neibour across the road, had done a late shift to come home with water through her house.

I was very lucky the house i rent is quite high, compared to the houses across the road. the water got up to the letterbox, probably about 1.5m off to actually reaching the house. the houses across the road had water up to the roof.

I had to go back to work after i moved stuff at my place, we finished the first job,then had to go to the second job, and my bosses wife calls up saying all the roads to their house have been cut off.
All this time i didnt want to be working cause i was worried about roads getting cut off, So i say to my boss take my house keys, if your desperate and cant get anywere the salvos are open and so is my house. lol
In the end my boss was able to get to his house by jumping the fence behind his house that he could access.

But what annoyed me was we kept on working through out the week, while basically everyone i knew in brisbane wasnt working.

Anyway thats my story
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Great stories from both of you. You came REALLY close to that didn't you Cardeecore? Its just insane. The end of 2010 to the middle of 2011 was like the world had just gone mad with natural disasters.
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ANWA-Cardeecore
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sure did, funny thing is, the lease was up on that place and moved out into a bigger place round the corner that had work done to it, because it had about 20cms of water through it lol.

So hopefully it doesn't ran as much as last christmas because that will really suck lol
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