Hey- In case you didn't know, Queensland is being drowned. Insane amounts of flooding. Personally, I had no idea that it was as bad as it was until I saw some of the videos and pictures Scootah posted. We have a few members that are in the thick of it, and I'm sure I speak for all of us when I wish you nothing but the best over the next few days and weeks. Here's the river height, in METRES, of the local river that Scootah lives near. It's normally 2m (6'), and is expected to rise 70'. Seventy. Fucking. Feet. Scootah is at the 120' level. For now, anyway. (spoilered for size) Spoiler FOCUS: The Queensland Flood. Post any info you may have, or thoughts and well-wishes to those that are there. ALT-FOCUS: Every been in a flood? Share your experiences, maybe help out our down-under Idiots with some been-there-done-that advice. Puncturing your above ground pool doesn't count, by the way.
Here's another link that Scootah provided of some pics: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.igossip.com.au/?p=17996" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.igossip.com.au/?p=17996</a>
There are a few of us around the boards in the area. Nikki and I of course, and Disgustipated is down south a bit. As far as I can tell from the news - the area he's in hasn't been hit. I was living in Toowoomba - the place where the video of the car being washed away was recorded, until February last year. It's a fucking hole - but it was some biblical shit up there with absolutely no fucking warning. The current fucked up event is some four year old kid died not far from our house. The rescue workers pulled his mum out of the water, but couldn't get him. Everyone involved in that shit is going to be fucked up for years. A friend of ours has been flooded twice before. The first time they lost a ton of shit because of a fucked sewage pipe, sued the council and got it all back, and got the pipes fixed. The second time was a complete fluke act of god that nobody could explain - but insurance paid. They didn't lose much though - still being paranoid about keeping shit in their downstairs after the first time. They've just had their entire house wiped the fuck out. They've lost pretty much everything. Both stories of their house have just been destroyed. Poor bastards. It's not even like it floods here often - their house is just in a shit spot and they're unbelievably unlucky.
(I'm not sure if this is too far off-focus, so a mod can delete it if that's the case.) I'm from the area in the Netherlands that was struck by the big flood of 1953. I'm told that was the largest flood-disaster of Europe in recent times, costing the lives of 1800 people. My grandparents told me a lot of tales about that disaster. They didn't really know what to do, except for bunking on their rooftops (in January, which is fucking cold out here) or wading through the water to some safe spots. They also told me they regretted never preparing for a flood (like knowing where to go if their houses would wash away). Which is a bit odd, considering the name of our province translates to 'Sealand' and is a couple of meters below sea-level and flooded regularly in the preceding centuries. It was the Bangladesh of Europe, but without curry. But, and this may not be of much help in your current situation, my grandparents and the rest of the country made the sea their bitch after the flood. We created the Delta Works, one of the seven wonders of the modern world. While I can't really give a lot of advice on what to do in a flood, I can only say that afterwards you can rise above yourselves in trying to prevent this from ever happening again.
We, luckily, lived in one of the few neighborhoods that did not flood after Katrina. What is going to hit you isn't the flood itself; the waters will recede fairly quickly. It's the aftermath that will really hit home. Watching people scrape sludge off of their one remaining piece of wedding china, or trying to pry baby pictures out of a wet photo album, or using a snow shovel to move feet of mud and God knows what else out of their living rooms is what finally made it real to me. And, again, I hope Aussies are more upstanding citizens than the residents of New Orleans because people shooting at rescue vehicles and helicopters and looting the local Pottery Barn for expensive shower curtain rings really makes you feel that Lord of the Flies is a remarkably accurate portrayal of human behavior.
No amount of storm water drainage system could have coped with that much water, drainage is only normally designed for a Q50 - Q100 (rain events with a return period of 50 or 100 years), This must have been a Q1000 or more. Nature pretty much just made SE QLD its bitch. On the plus side, I guess water restrictions will be over for the SE corner of Queensland which is probably the only positive you could get out of something like this.
I've got a buddy who lives in Brisbane. He called me around 1 AM and left a message saying "Brisbane is flooding. This is fucking cool. Call me". I doubt he thinks its really cool since some people are dying and if I had to guess he was drinking since I think he called me, in Indiana, from his cell phone. I haven't gotten in touch with him yet but I'm gonna echo what Nettdata said: be safe down there.
River is at 18.5 meters here next to us now. it's 6 am- it's gorgeous and sunny- and completely fucking eerie as the normal nature sounds are all but missing. I can hear a single crow- where normally there would be a chorus of frogs insects and many more exotic birds. It sounds dead.
I can't even believe the pics and vids I'm seeing. First the fires now this. Mother Nature is really fucking with you guys. Hope you and yours are all safe. Our thoughts are with you. How fucking scary.
A little humor in the whole situation, watching the first video ND posted, one of the ads that came up was a Toyota 2yr/25,000 mile maintenance deal as that Rav4 (I'm just speculating) plowed by and got tossed. Kind of funny if you ask me.
A playground round the corner from us- we are still safe and dry. Going for a walk to get more shots. Edit; Death toll is now 10- but missing are more then 90- and the waters will rise more today before it gets better.
My cousin, his wife and my 2 nephews and 1 niece (who are all under 3) live in Toowoomba. At the moment my cousin is posted in Afghanistan so his wife and the kids are stuck going through this without him. Last reports everyone was safe but it was dicey on whether or not the house would survive. On the news this morning they said that 70% of Queensland is under water at the moment… that is crazy. Thoughts go out to everyone affected, I hope that you all stay safe.
Jesus, they're showing current rain to the west of us, pretty much in the places where it dumped to create the first floods. Estimating another couple of inches today here and continuing rain through the weekend. The Maccas down the road from us, you can see the Golden Arches - that's about it though. The river height estimate keeps going up - they're now saying 23 meters. It just doesn't feel real from our house - it's sunny and nice outside. You can't see the water from our house unless you go for a walk - but the highway overpass camera I've been watching is offline because it's under fucking water. It's raised 10 meters above the highway. We've got fairly regular fly overs from news choppers - the footage is completely unrecognizable. I could only identify the stretch between the highway and our house because they explicitly told us that's what it was - I've walked or driven that route 10 times a week for the last 10 months. All you can see are some of the building roof tops. Everything else is under water.
Pics of the main routes out of our suburb, each about two minutes from the house, looking east, north and west.
One time my basement had 2.5" of water in it! Never been in a flood but I can appreciate the sheer power of mother nature's use of water. Kayaked a few times in streams that were swollen 10+ times their normal size. Got real lucky we didn't drop in above this little trap though... For perspective the road going over that bridge is a two lane highway with a breakdown lane. The bridge sits about 9-10 feet above the stream bed. This is a shot from the other side of the road. Water is usually 2ft max rolling through that section.
I'm sure if one of you guys in Aussieland had won the Christmas drunk thread contest and got the prized boat, you'd be happier than a fat kid with a cupcake. On another note, how much destruction did the flood cause to your guys' houses/property/etc?
you can see street signage in the middle of the water- to it is about 8 -10 feet, I'd guess? Water levels are currently about 19 meters higher then normal level. Yes, meters. Current predictions have the water receding in about 4-5 days- but that changes constantly- and it is still supposed to rise by 2-3 meters here yet.