Flooding In Brisbane

So, most of you have been watching the news and are aware that Brisbane is currently enjoying some of the worst flooding in a century. There are some very dramatic videos on Youtube and they are not misrepresentative. They expect that the peak of the flood will be Thursday morning at 4:00am (Bris time), and that at least 20 000 homes and businesses will be inundated. A large portion of this will be occurring in the Central Business District and other low lying areas around the river.

Now to how this may affect me. Firstly, my house is in a very dry and safe area and it is more than extremely unlikely that we will see any significant flooding in our home. That said, the campus is already experiencing flooding and it will only get worse. They have cancelled orientation (rescheduling tbd) and the first week of classes has also been cancelled. They will be providing the lectures online and we will be responsible for learning the material. I have quite a few friends who are expecting to lose their homes, or at least have enough water damage that they are practically destroyed, but luckily they have a very strong support network through the school, medical society and friends. I actually have a friend with me now who is anxiously waiting to see if his apartment (on the second floor) will be under water tomorrow morning. I have a few videos of the very beginning of the flooding that I will post at a later date.

The good news is that it stopped raining!! yay..i suppose lol. The break in rain actually has significantly lowered the estimated river peak from 7m down to 5.2m. Also there have been efforts going within the community that will help those in need. Just last night I actually went with some mates to help fill and move sandbags and there were approximately 150 of us there until 2:00am......i'm very sore...but at least now I don't have to donate to charity this year :P, but yes, the community spirit is strong and helpful here. Everyone realises that we've had as much notice as possible and any death toll should remain minimal..sadly there is currently a death toll of 12....five of which were young children.

I may not be able to post tomorrow or the day after, as the power could be shut off at any moment. My housemates and I have filled numerous bottles with clean water and have food that we can eat uncooked if necessary. We also have a rain water reservoir that we can use for washing dishes etc if necessary.

So yes. All is well here....in my house at least...I am safe and dry and nobody should worry.

PS. I won't do anything stupid and risky like try to save a cat that is on a tree in the middle of a tsunami flood....unless it looks like Thomas.


If you would like information on the flooding situation go to this site:
http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/
My suburb is Dutton Park, and I live at 49 Park Rd W.