Flooding in QLD Australia.

Both great links Pony...thank you :)

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread, but I thought some of the Brissie people on here might be interested in looking at the pictures on these 2 links: http://www.abc.net.au/news/infographics/qld-floods/beforeafter.htm http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=28015&id=138403559554005&fbid=139872486073779

Gosh...I've just seen some national news. Four more states now experiencing evacuation orders and floods. Love and prayers to those affected in NSW, Vic, SA and Tas. My heart is mostly in Goondiwindi this morning where I have lots of family and spent most of my childhood holidays. Fortunately it's looking like their levy (sp??) banks are holding. Full credit to an awesome, pro-active local council in Gundi! WA fires...my heart goes out to the people there too.

Hi Amy, Green-ish is correct, currently we have been advised that there are 14 warehouses full to the brim of donated goods that cannot be distributed. Not including what has turned up at evacuation centres around the state. Hold off on your care package if you can as no doubt when things settle down they will be greatly appreciated. Leshell: I live about 15mins north from your home in zillmere, the bruce highway and gateway motorway has opened again (previously cut in both directions from Brackenridge to Caboolture). If you need me to check on your home for you, just let me know. Thankyou ladies for being such compassionate and caring people, the thoughts and prayers we are receiving in Qld from all over the world is overwhelming and wonderful to hear & see. Means more than words can say. Please say a prayer for the residents of south west qld i.e. Goondiwindi etc who are still experiencing peak waters/evacuations/floods, not to mention the numerous areas who continue to be evacuated as being flooded several times since xmas. These poor people have started their clean up and hit again..... So proud to be a Queenslander at any time, more so than ever before right now.

It's just not good news. Most of my family are affected. Some stuck in Toowoomba, some on the coast, some in Rockhampton. The videos have to be seen to be believed. I don't want to send back money because the exchange rate is so bad and they will end up with nothing. I'm going to put together a 25 kilo FedEx package, will cost 1'800dirhams, and will fill it with clothes/toys/toilet paper etc. Supplies are what they need at the moment, not money. Cheques were given out to people but banks were flooded so they have cheques without money. To anyone else whose family and friends are in trouble, all my prayers are out to the brave people. It makes me proud to be a QLD'er when I see how much they've all pulled together to help each other right now. It's going to take a long time to clean up this mess. Amy...while your heart is clearly in the right place, the authorities are still asking for cash donations only at this point. Anything you send may be stuck for weeks or months at a depot or on a ship because the logistics of getting goods anywhere at the moment is just a nightmare!! I'm a fair distance from the flood zones and most of the supermakets are emptying, the fast food outlets are closed etc etc. Roads and train lines are closed so goods simply cannot be transported to their intended destinations. Perhaps get your care pakcage together and hold off sending it until things are a little more organised on the ground here? xx

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/852554-teenage-boy-killed-in-floods-after-pleading-for-brother-to-be-saved-first This is so,so sad. What a brave little boy Very sad, what a lovely boy he was and how tragic for his 2 brothers to have lost him and their mum. There'll be lots of heartbreaking stories.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/852554-teenage-boy-killed-in-floods-after-pleading-for-brother-to-be-saved-first This is so,so sad. What a brave little boy

Try this link. www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

http://www.couriermail.com.au/ The Courier Mail has some links on donating. Did you see Premier Bligh's video about Queenslanders being bred tough? I'm getting goosebumps watching some of the videos; the one of the little tug boat was inspiring too.

It's so incredibly sad. Very tough to be on the other side of the world right now. I just feel helpless. Does anyone have a link so that we can donate some $$$$

is there an organization that are collecting canned food, meds, warm clothes/blankets etc to send?

It's hard to take in the extent of the damage. In cases where homes/offices etc have had water through can anything be salvaged or will everything have to be replaced.

This is an email received from my parents a couple of days ago. Luckily they are fine but shows the devestation they are under. Just thought I would let you know that we are both fine and safe stuck up here at Mundubbera. It took us two days to get here as the first day we had to turn back because of the flooding and then managed to get up on the second day with friends in their very heavy four wheel drive vehicle. The trip normally only takes us just under five hours but this time took us ten as we had to ford various creeks and then turn back in places as the floods had completely wiped out bridges and causeways and where there used to be roads there were now lakes! . However, now that we have got here most of Qld. is under water, all the highways and byways are cut off and we are all stuck and unable to get back home. However, we are safe and well even thought there are eight of us in a small house (six adults and two hulking great teenage boys) The floods have been absolutely amazing, incredible, staggering and practically impossible to comprehend. Entire towns up and down the State have had to be evacuated and the floods going through the centre of Toowoomba have been likened to an inland Tsunami. A number are dead and a great number are missing and they are expecting the toll to rise. All the dams are overflowing and all the rivers throughout the State have burst their banks, causing enormous damage. They now tell us that it is also flooding all the way down to NSW and is expecting to flood Victoria as well. Unbelievable. Brisbane is on high alert as they expect 38 suburbs to end up under water there shortly and have already started evacuating some areas by air as there is no way in or out of many areas. Caboolture, just down the road from us, is totally isolated and now they are warning folk there to get up to higher ground but there is no way they can drive as all the roads are cut off so they must walk up to the highest ground around. Gympie is now 20 meters under water but I guess the most incredible footage of all was Toowoomba where the water absolutely raged through the centre of the CBD over turning trucks, four wheel drives etc. as though they were just flies and large trees up and down the road were either torn out or crushed by the weight of the water. Anyway, we could be stuck up here for some time yet but will let you know when we are able to find our way home through whatever way we can. Thank goodness we came in such a solid four wheel drive as most of the roads are undrivable anyway with huge potholes everywhere, large sections of the roads missing, bridges torn out and generally impassable. <em>edited by NZ2AD on 13/01/2011</em>

Some good news today...not quite as bad ( but still awful!) Hope everyone is OK.

Morning concerned Cain Toads. You'll be pleased to know the River peaked this morning, slightly lower than the 1974 levels so a lot more homes than expected were spared. There are still a lot of homes under but, touch wood, no loss of life here in the Capital. The flood waters are receding out West and more bodies are being found - very sad for their families and friends. So many terrible stories from rescuers - one elderly man managed to rescue a ten year old boy, only to have his rope break and the 13 year old boy and mother were swept to their deaths. I think the people that attempted to, but couldn't save kids are the saddest stories. Some of the great Brisbane landmarks are in trouble - Oxley's Restaurant sunk yesterday and it's pontoon floated down the river (with all the tables and chairs on it) smashed into a bridge and sunk. The Riverwalk is partially destroyed and the rest will be destroyed today - efforts are being made to secure the Moggill Ferry and The Island (party barge) but if that fails, they too will be destroyed by the army today. Hope all of you with family here have heard from them. The Red Cross website has numbers for anyone looking for missing relatives and friends to phone to see whether they are registered at one of the many evacuation centres. My kids and I are off in a minute to go and check out the flooding in our suburb. But at least we still have power.

I looked at some pictures of Brisbane and the water level in the river seemed so high along the riverside express:-( I felt like crying. When we lived there people seemed pretty confident that all the floood mitigation schemes after the 1974 floods would protect the city in the future but this seems worse than 74. Isn't there a major flood predicted every 100 years or so. I remember looking at the flood maps when we were buying a house and the real estate agent said there was noting to worry about. I just texted my brother as he's in Jindalee and close to the river.

That's insane!!! Though I did send DH out for milk and bread earlier and he came back with Hot Cross Buns instead of bread and that "fishy" heart milk instead of normal stuff. Apparently that was all that was left! Distribution and supply will be low I guess for everything as the roads are cut in so many places. I heard on the ABC that a lot of the bread is made in Toowoomba. And of course the fruit and vegetables have all been ruined right up and down the coast...

The supermarket shelves are all empty and people are literally fighting over FULL trolleys. Apparantly the only stock on the shelves that isn't sold out yet are the Easter Eggs! :\:

Yeah, Shelly, I heard the airport was closed earlier this evening due to water on the runway. I think it has reopened now though.

It has been an horrific day here with everyone pinned to the TV, facebook and various news sites trying to keep track of towns and loved ones who may be affected. For those of you who have family/friends or property in Brisbane or it's surrounding areas, you might find these facebook groups provide you with more current and detailed information that the media: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/QueenslandPolice http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Brisbane-Area-Flood-Photos-Info/138403559554005 http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Toowoomba-Darling-Downs-Flood-Photos-Info/121413644594262 They are shutting off the electricity supply to the Brisbane city area tomorrow from 7am as they are expecting worse flood inundation. And several of the mobile phone networks are down as they are not coping. If you are trying to contact friends or family don't get panic, just keep trying later in the day. At least the Brisbanites have had a couple of days warning of this so we have been able to prepare. Leshell, I am on the northside and you are right, the Bruce Highway is closed at several points as is the Gateway around Bald Hills. There are rumours too that a bridge has been knocked out at Petrie which would be the alternate route from the Sunshine Coast I think (hopefully just rumours). But perhaps by Thursday The Bruce/Gateway may reopen. Depends if we get further rain I guess and what comes down the Pine River from the mountains.

I haven't heard yet about the airport being closed as I have been out for the past few hours but I would not be surprised if it is. We are in Cairns right now (luckily) but our flight tomorrow from Cairns to Hong Kong is coming from Brisbane so if it doesn't make it to Brissie then I'm not sure how it'll affect us. We flew into Brissie the other day and it was torrential rain and the airport was still open but planes were CHOOSING not to land and were circling, waiting for the rain to let up. Our plane was the only plane that decided to land... our pilots obviously had more confidence... :\: Its not as bad north of Brissie for flooding but for those 'trying' to get to/from the Sunny Coast the visibility on the motorway when raining is close to zero. Last week it took my friend close to 3hrs to get from Sunny Coast to Albany Creek. And for anyone flying Virgin Blue and wanting to call the airline to enquire about flights then not sure if you'll get through as their Head Office and Reservations was evacuated today. Maybe try calling the airport. This is all so sad. The pictures and videos I'm seeing on facebook from friends are just too horrible to look at. Any of you with family/friends in the affected areas I truly hope all will be ok. I'm dreading hearing about the coming days.

It's really terrible, Shellly please be careful take no risks, hope you can make it home safely.

75% of Qld is in a state of emergency due to flooding, this equals apprx 1.3 million sq Kilometers or simply put together [b'>France, Spain & the UK under water[/b'>. This is a disaster zone. I really feel for you guys I hope things improve soon.

Here's a good site to check the expected flood zones http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=159582460756441&utm_source=RoamMedia&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=qldonline

Thanks Leshell - our house in on top of a hill about 5km from the city in a flood zone, so we should be okay if we just stay at home for a couple of days. My brother just phoned and said the Brisbane Airport is closed (sorry Shellly) he couldn't cancel the two family rooms at a hotel that he'd booked for the final two nights of his stay so it looks like my gang and my niece and her gang are going to live it up in the city for a few nights when the flooding goes down.