The Floods Drive-by

Or at this point, float-by.

I live in a nation that pretty much faces all trials and tragedies with equanimity and the phrase “No worries”. We don’t tend to panic – you can’t afford to when you live in a country that has 7 of the 10 most dangerous snakes in the world. And I lived through the 74 Brisbane floods as a kid. When you’re little, a lot of the time you don’t know enough to be scared because as long as your parents are there telling you “It’s okay”, it’s okay.

But this morning, sitting at work, we’re all obsessed by the 2011 floods … the river has broken its banks over at West End … parts of Fortitude Valley are being evacuated … we all just went and watched the river from the Red Box at the State Library of Qld at South Brisbane … in two minutes as we watched, the water went from lapping at the boardwalk to covering the boardwalk – and it’s not even high tide yet. Coronation Drive has been evacuated.

Yesterday, Toowoomba, a town on a mountain range, got smashed by a flash flood.

My parents’ place is located halfway up a hill (not at Toowoomba, never fear) and the run-off looks like it’s going to flood their yard from above. My mobile service is down.My downstairs neighbour is dealing with water seeping up through the concrete slab under her carpet. These things are annoying, but we are lucky and safe, for which I am thankful.

This morning just has kind of creepy feeling to it … like watching something happen that you cannot do anything about. Everyone, please just stay safe and dry.

Update: the Brisbane River has broken its banks at Eagle St, people are being sent home from the city, buses and trains are packed, roads are at a standstill as everyone tries to get home and to higher ground, everyone is going shopping to stockpile food, they’re talking about 72 people missing after yesterday’s flood in Toowoomba and Lockyer area :-(.