Floods in Australia

[ANonnyMouse]

I just wanted to check in, since there are a few other Aussie MS'ers here. We're in Brisbane, 2km from the floodwaters, but our house is on a hill and we will stay high and dry thankfully. Hopefully our other QLD community members are also safe right now.

[RedFlame]

It really worries me that I see people standing so close to the water.  I have watched a number of these videos.  Please stay safe!

Red

[Lulu54]

thanks for the links.  I think this gives others a better idea of what we are talking about -I'm going to copy your post over to the other Aussie flood thread too so everyone sees this.

  stay safe, Lulu

[JemmAus]

well....Udkas is currently on holidays in Queensland, where it's all floody.

I lived up there for 5 years, just returned to the Sane South (as I call it) 12 months ago.  Firstly understand that Qld is 666876 square miles, so  about 3 times the size of Texas. 75% of Qld is flooded.

Most of Qld is underpopulated / rural / outback,  and the towns that have been flooded up until now have faired quite well, considering.

But in the last 48 hours that changed with a major flash flood occurring in Toowoomba, a rural town in the mountains west of Brisbane. There are lots of deaths and dozens missing from that area.

Youtube clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt-FT-skins

That water has moved east into the Lockyer Valley, destroying a few small towns:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_C1s2LWVBE

That water has now moved east again and is in the Brisbane river system. The cities of Ipswich and Brisbane are facing their worst flooding sincethe 1890s.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/12/3111075.htm

My entire  extended family live up there, all are ok though at this point. At least the water is rising slowly giving people time to evacuate.

[Lulu54]

I just did a quick count and we have had more than 100 Aussies join here  - of course not all are active but there should be more than 3 of you checking in.  I hope we hear soon from others that this flooding has not affected them either.

[Lulu54]

I'm glad to hear from you - I did a shout out for our OZzies in another thread and heard from JemmAus and udakas but we have several of you who haven't checked in.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/checking-on-those-of-you-in-OZ/show/1429669

Thanks for letting us know you are high and dry.  The pictures tonight continue to worry me for all of you downunder.  The equivalent of a tidal wave is what they showed hitting and they were talking about the water moving on to Brisbane.  

stay safe,
Lulu