Of droughts and flooding rains

If only umbrellas were all that were needed

Oh, my! The around-the-clock coverage of the flood devastation in Queensland is just heartbreaking and entirely incomprehensible. For overseas Planetarians who may not have caught the news, even back on 30 December 2010, the flooded area was reported as covering ‘an area bigger than France and Germany combined’. To give you some perspective, this should help.

Thanks for this, Beth

A fortnight later, it’s a whole lot worse. Here are just some of the events of the past few days up there:

At least 12 people have died including children.
At least 67 people are missing.
Whole towns have been inundated by the surging waters.
People have been rescued from the roof tops of cars and houses.
19,700 Brisbane houses and 3,500 commercial premises are likely to be flooded.

Just now, Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has warned that ‘whole suburbs could go under’. This in Brisbane, a city of 2 million people. It’s so incredibly hard to grasp the enormity and scale of what’s going on.

The Brisbane River is surging along, tearing away whole sections of jetties and ripping boats from their moorings. Evacuation centres are being erected in city stadiums. People living in low-lying Brisbane suburbs are being urged to evacuate now before it’s too late. More than 50,000 households in southeast Queensland are without power. And the water is not scheduled to peak until tomorrow.

Here's a clip summarising some of the events of recent days, together with an extract from the latest press conference of the Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh and the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, this morning.

My thoughts, hopes and prayers are with all those affected. Knowing that A-M, Katherine, Anita, Beth and Carmel are safe is a relief. Let’s see what the days ahead bring and whether the authorities’ worst fears are realised. Mind you, A-M’s latest post has me feeling sick for her. Please join with me in keeping our fellow Australians in your thoughts, hearts and prayers.

PS For the non-Australians who are unfamiliar with the line of my post title, you can read Dorothea Mackellar's poem 'My Country' here.