Oldwagon
Member
I heard them mention this on the news tonight.But I did not get to hear all about it.I hope all our friends there are OK.Wishing all the best.
Flooding in Australia
- Thread starter Oldwagon
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Dalecamino
Local Chapter Leader
I sent an email to Fred (BigShed) last week but, haven't received a reply as yet. I too hope all our friends there are safe. Hope we'll hear from them soon.
Reece
Member
Most of us are okay. There are a couple of areas in regional Queensland with some serious issues, such as Rockhampton, but at the moment people are only in danger if they put themselves in danger, ie, swimming in fast flowing flood waters.
Terrible way to start the new year though, my heart goes out to those affected. I can't even begin to imagine what they are feeling.
Terrible way to start the new year though, my heart goes out to those affected. I can't even begin to imagine what they are feeling.
arioux
Member
I just eard on the news that they are having serious problems with the snakes around Rockhampton. And they are very poisonous one's too !
bitshird
Member
I hope all our friends down under are OK, the thought about some of the critters native to Australia swimming up to you kind of scares the stuffing's out of me.
Jgrden
Member
Hope you guys and gals down under, reverse flow are OKAY.
Fred
Member
Best of luck to all in Australia. Snakes ... cool! Those that insist on getting to near people ... Skin them and make beautiful pens!
Reece
Member
Indeed. Brown snakes climbing trees to escape the water, and then dropping into peoples boats.
PR_Princess
Member
For those that don't know, the Australian Brown Snake is considered the second most venomous land snake.
In other words - a very bad day when one suddenly drops into your boat!!!
In other words - a very bad day when one suddenly drops into your boat!!!
nava1uni
Member
Sure hope that all the turner and vendors and their families are doing okay. It sounds like a horrible rain and flooding throughout that entire area of Australia. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of the people who are losing their homes, businesses, job and hope that they can recover for it all.
PenPal
Member
In Queensland present land flooded area exceeds the land in Germany and France combined.
Some idea of the devastation, a large part of the food chain grown in these sub and tropical areas. The next few weeks clean up will be the devastating phase yes it is serious for these people.
We here get the creeps thinking about the so many predators in the US guess it all depends on our own experiences. I clearly remember an American demonstrator showing his Adobe home in Arizona c/w Rattlesnakes everywhere around his house and temperatures through the roof being the norm, cyclones central areas and down south, wind thrusts that flatten homes and currently the huge snow problems.
Where I live in Canberra the incredible rain filled our dams for the first time in ten to fifteen years of drought, something about weather patterns that have existed forever. I always feel we must be careful what we crave and pray for pray for rain but prepare for it at the same time.
Happy New Year to everyone especially those in need everywhere. Peter.
Some idea of the devastation, a large part of the food chain grown in these sub and tropical areas. The next few weeks clean up will be the devastating phase yes it is serious for these people.
We here get the creeps thinking about the so many predators in the US guess it all depends on our own experiences. I clearly remember an American demonstrator showing his Adobe home in Arizona c/w Rattlesnakes everywhere around his house and temperatures through the roof being the norm, cyclones central areas and down south, wind thrusts that flatten homes and currently the huge snow problems.
Where I live in Canberra the incredible rain filled our dams for the first time in ten to fifteen years of drought, something about weather patterns that have existed forever. I always feel we must be careful what we crave and pray for pray for rain but prepare for it at the same time.
Happy New Year to everyone especially those in need everywhere. Peter.
scorpio_oz
Member
The floods in Rockhampton for many of the locals, are just one of the many floods that they will get to experience. Rockhampton is a river city. Most locals have seen it before, many new to the town are experiencing it for the first time. But this year, with so many other towns in the region also underwater, 2011 will be remembered.
The flooding in Rockhampton peaked today, reaching its second highest level ever recorded.
Airports closed, roads closed. Community of around 75,000 people cut off.
Matched the floods of 1991, which I was living in Rockhampton at the time (Lived there for 30 years). Seen a few floods during that time. The Fitzroy river that runs through the city is the second largest river catchment system in Australia.
My parents were/are members of the local woodturning club. Mum said Dad was down the clubhouse late last week helping lift the lathes up as high as they could get them.
I understand it wasn't going to be high enough if it reached the 1991 levels. They'll find out when the water finally starts to drop, then the clean up begins.
Dad took a massive heart attack last Monday the 3rd and passed away.
With the town cut off, they are saying for up to two more weeks, we can't get up there for a funeral for a while.
The floods of 2011 will be remembered by many for a lot of different reasons. But homes can be cleaned and towns rebuilt but sometimes, something happens that alters your perspective on life.
As long as those you care about are safe and well in 2011, then it'll be a good year.
Regards
-G
The flooding in Rockhampton peaked today, reaching its second highest level ever recorded.
Airports closed, roads closed. Community of around 75,000 people cut off.
Matched the floods of 1991, which I was living in Rockhampton at the time (Lived there for 30 years). Seen a few floods during that time. The Fitzroy river that runs through the city is the second largest river catchment system in Australia.
My parents were/are members of the local woodturning club. Mum said Dad was down the clubhouse late last week helping lift the lathes up as high as they could get them.
I understand it wasn't going to be high enough if it reached the 1991 levels. They'll find out when the water finally starts to drop, then the clean up begins.
Dad took a massive heart attack last Monday the 3rd and passed away.
With the town cut off, they are saying for up to two more weeks, we can't get up there for a funeral for a while.
The floods of 2011 will be remembered by many for a lot of different reasons. But homes can be cleaned and towns rebuilt but sometimes, something happens that alters your perspective on life.
As long as those you care about are safe and well in 2011, then it'll be a good year.
Regards
-G
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johnnycnc
Member
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you involved in this,
I know firsthand what a flood is like.
All the best to you and know we care and will be thinking of you.
Stay strong and watch your health in all this.
Gavin, I'm so sorry to hear of your Dad. my heart goes out to you and your family.
John
I know firsthand what a flood is like.
All the best to you and know we care and will be thinking of you.
Stay strong and watch your health in all this.
Gavin, I'm so sorry to hear of your Dad. my heart goes out to you and your family.
John
greggas
Member
Gavin;
So sorry to hear of your loss...hope your family can be together soon
So sorry to hear of your loss...hope your family can be together soon
Jim15
Member
Gavin, sorry to hear about your dad, he will be in my prayers. Thankas for the report about the flood.
Jgrden
Member
scorpio oz or Mr. G, I am sorry to hear about your father. Our prayers and sympathies are for your relief.
bitshird
Member
Gavin;
Sorry for your loss, I hope all the flood victims get settled back quickly, I live in one of those places where Tornadoes hit frequently, they are horrible things!! Last year you poor folks had the fires and no water now more water than you need, It's really hard to imagine or get a perspective of an area the size of Germany and France combined under water, I feel very sorry for the loss of life that must be going on.
Sorry for your loss, I hope all the flood victims get settled back quickly, I live in one of those places where Tornadoes hit frequently, they are horrible things!! Last year you poor folks had the fires and no water now more water than you need, It's really hard to imagine or get a perspective of an area the size of Germany and France combined under water, I feel very sorry for the loss of life that must be going on.
Dalecamino
Local Chapter Leader
Very sorry to hear of your loss Gavin.
jonrms
Member
I hope all are well .... beats this tiny earth quake we had the other day!
good luck and please know my thoughts are with you all..
good luck and please know my thoughts are with you all..
scorpio_oz
Member
Don't know how much news makes it across the pond sometimes.
The floods we are having have expanded, just when we thought they couldn't get any worse it has.
In the first round of flooding an area of germany and france combined went underwater.
Many of these areas are either just starting the cleanup, or like Rockhampton, the river level has only dropped 4 inches from the peak, so it will still be weeks before anyone can get in or out of the city.
Then over the weekend, previously unflooded areas (they had received moderate rain, but nothing to cause any flooding) took enormous downpours.
I know the names may not mean much, but these are towns further south in Queensland, than previously flooded areas. Marybourgh and Gympie, two larger regional areas received rainfall in excess of 500mm (20") in under a 48 hr period. The two main river systems around them are going beyond any previous recorded levels. 100's of homes and businesses are underwater and flooding and landslides now cut the main north-south highway in many places. These communities are inaccessible.
Before the weekend, I only had to wait for the Rockhampton water level to drop then I could drive up by car (about 700kms north from here). Now the main highway is cut in an additional 4 or 5 areas.
In Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, we have received in areas over 600mm (24") of rain since Saturday.
Yesterday a greater tragedy unfolded. Toowoomba and the surrounding Lockyer valley, an area while it had received rain, hadn't had enough to worry about flooding. This is about an hours drive west from Brisbane.
24 hrs ago, everything was OK. Yesterday after lunch, a deluge in the vicinity of 400mm+ fell in under 30 minutes.
Flash flooding pushed a wall of water 1 metre+ high through the main street and business district, washing cars down the street.
See this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Do0LvsdXIU&NR=1
This all happened without warning, an hour earlier and these streets were normal.
Some people went into the movie theatre downtown, didn't know this was happening and came outside to find out this had occured during the movie, some had their cars washed away.
Toowoomba is up on a mountain range, not down in a valley or low lying. The low lying areas and small towns have been hit worse.
Two storey houses have been washed off their stumps and floated away with people clinging to the roof.
Yesterday in very poor weather, their were over 40 helicopter rescues.
As of this morning, from the Toowoomba flooding, there have been 8 deaths and 72 people missing/unaccounted for.
All their water ends up downstream of Brisbanes Wivenhoe Dam, which up until this stage has been able to reduce the flooding impact on Brisbane. The dam is at 150% capacity and they are releasing water to minimize impact downstream.
Less than two years ago we were in drought with this dam falling to around 15% capacity, and this is the main water supply for the capital Brisbane and surrounding area. We were on very tight water restrictions, no outside use of water, two minutes showers, no washing the car or watering the garden.
With all of the Toowomba water entering the Brisbane River below the dam, Brisbane is now heading for trouble.
Brisbane city council has released a flood alert for 30 suburbs this morning.
And they predict another 300 to 400mm of rain to continue falling over the next 48 hours.
As I type this the rain outside is torrential and not letting up.
To provide some scale to our flooding, this flood covers, in area currently twice the entire state of texas is or has been in the last two weeks underwater in Queensland.
And the rain isn't stopping. Its rained now in Brisbane for nearly 6 weeks now, with only a day or two of reprieve and we are getting a little tired of it be honest.
Queensland is known as the Sunshine State. Not too much of that at the moment..
A disaster on this scale has never been expereinced in Queensland, it has done billions of dollars of damage that will take years to re-build and taken lives that can't be replaced.
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to all the familes affected.
Regards
-G
The floods we are having have expanded, just when we thought they couldn't get any worse it has.
In the first round of flooding an area of germany and france combined went underwater.
Many of these areas are either just starting the cleanup, or like Rockhampton, the river level has only dropped 4 inches from the peak, so it will still be weeks before anyone can get in or out of the city.
Then over the weekend, previously unflooded areas (they had received moderate rain, but nothing to cause any flooding) took enormous downpours.
I know the names may not mean much, but these are towns further south in Queensland, than previously flooded areas. Marybourgh and Gympie, two larger regional areas received rainfall in excess of 500mm (20") in under a 48 hr period. The two main river systems around them are going beyond any previous recorded levels. 100's of homes and businesses are underwater and flooding and landslides now cut the main north-south highway in many places. These communities are inaccessible.
Before the weekend, I only had to wait for the Rockhampton water level to drop then I could drive up by car (about 700kms north from here). Now the main highway is cut in an additional 4 or 5 areas.
In Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, we have received in areas over 600mm (24") of rain since Saturday.
Yesterday a greater tragedy unfolded. Toowoomba and the surrounding Lockyer valley, an area while it had received rain, hadn't had enough to worry about flooding. This is about an hours drive west from Brisbane.
24 hrs ago, everything was OK. Yesterday after lunch, a deluge in the vicinity of 400mm+ fell in under 30 minutes.
Flash flooding pushed a wall of water 1 metre+ high through the main street and business district, washing cars down the street.
See this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Do0LvsdXIU&NR=1
This all happened without warning, an hour earlier and these streets were normal.
Some people went into the movie theatre downtown, didn't know this was happening and came outside to find out this had occured during the movie, some had their cars washed away.
Toowoomba is up on a mountain range, not down in a valley or low lying. The low lying areas and small towns have been hit worse.
Two storey houses have been washed off their stumps and floated away with people clinging to the roof.
Yesterday in very poor weather, their were over 40 helicopter rescues.
As of this morning, from the Toowoomba flooding, there have been 8 deaths and 72 people missing/unaccounted for.
All their water ends up downstream of Brisbanes Wivenhoe Dam, which up until this stage has been able to reduce the flooding impact on Brisbane. The dam is at 150% capacity and they are releasing water to minimize impact downstream.
Less than two years ago we were in drought with this dam falling to around 15% capacity, and this is the main water supply for the capital Brisbane and surrounding area. We were on very tight water restrictions, no outside use of water, two minutes showers, no washing the car or watering the garden.
With all of the Toowomba water entering the Brisbane River below the dam, Brisbane is now heading for trouble.
Brisbane city council has released a flood alert for 30 suburbs this morning.
And they predict another 300 to 400mm of rain to continue falling over the next 48 hours.
As I type this the rain outside is torrential and not letting up.
To provide some scale to our flooding, this flood covers, in area currently twice the entire state of texas is or has been in the last two weeks underwater in Queensland.
And the rain isn't stopping. Its rained now in Brisbane for nearly 6 weeks now, with only a day or two of reprieve and we are getting a little tired of it be honest.
Queensland is known as the Sunshine State. Not too much of that at the moment..
A disaster on this scale has never been expereinced in Queensland, it has done billions of dollars of damage that will take years to re-build and taken lives that can't be replaced.
Our thoughts and best wishes go out to all the familes affected.
Regards
-G
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Jim15
Member
Thanks for the report Gavin. It sounds terrible. Everyone down there will be in my prayers.
scorpio_oz
Member
An update for all our friends over the there.
Things have gotten a little worse than expected for Brisbane and district.
Brisbane on edge ahead of catastrophic flood peak.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110839.htm?section=justin
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110857.htm?section=justin
There was a benchmark flood in this area, that all floods in the past have been compared to. This took place in 1974, and Brisbane and Ipswich suffered badly.
Since then they have built a huge dam upstream to control the flow into the Brisbane river, so there could never be a repeat of the 1974 flood.
Up until now, this has worked.
Now we are going to see flood levels in Brisbane and Ipswich exceed that benchmark.
1974 at Ipswich seen a river level of 20.7 meters. Tonight the river is expected to reach 22 meters at Ipswich. Flooding around a 1/3 of the town. Ipswich has a population of 155000 people.
Brisbane hit a peak at high tide today of just over two meters. Over 30 suburbs were evacuated. The Central Business District of Brisbane was shut down and evacuated as the River broke its banks and flooded into the city and suburbs.
That was at a level of two meters. On Thursday afternoon, they are predicting a peak of 5.8 meters. Previous record in 1974 was 5.5. This is another 12 inches higher than anything previously, and 3.8 meters higher than today.
On Thursday, 80+ suburbs will be at risk, its expected somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 properties will be affected by the flood peak.
The river is expected to remain at peak levels until at least Saturday.
Wivenhoe dam is now at 190%, and taking in more water than it can release. Its maximum capacity is 225%, at which point one of the experts stated this.
"The Wivenhoe Dam is not designed to be overtopped, it is what we call an embankment dam. And if water was to flow over the top of the crest of the dam, there would be a very high risk of erosion of the dam wall and ultimately catastrophic failure of the dam," he said.
Story here http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110758.htm?section=justin
If this lets go the damage to lives and property would be unimaginable.
To date the latest human cost is.
10 confirmed deaths, 78 missing/unaccounted for. 18 gravely concerned for.
Entire families in the lockyer valley and district are missing.
Brisbane city is in lockdown basically. I've had to close work. We spent the morning helping businesses move computer equipment out of the flood zones as best we could, then evacuations started and I had to send all the staff home to look after their own properties and families.
We are lucky, aside from some local flooding we should be clear of the flood zone.
The biggest impact to us will be electricity. We've been advised that from tomorrow they will need to start cutting off power because of underground high voltage supply systems. Anywhere from 100,000 to 250,000 homes will be without power, for an undetermined time frame.
And we thought that we could leave behind the dramas of 2010 and start afresh for 2011.
2011 looks like being a memorable year, for so many wrong reasons.
Kind regards
-G
Things have gotten a little worse than expected for Brisbane and district.
Brisbane on edge ahead of catastrophic flood peak.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110839.htm?section=justin
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110857.htm?section=justin
There was a benchmark flood in this area, that all floods in the past have been compared to. This took place in 1974, and Brisbane and Ipswich suffered badly.
Since then they have built a huge dam upstream to control the flow into the Brisbane river, so there could never be a repeat of the 1974 flood.
Up until now, this has worked.
Now we are going to see flood levels in Brisbane and Ipswich exceed that benchmark.
1974 at Ipswich seen a river level of 20.7 meters. Tonight the river is expected to reach 22 meters at Ipswich. Flooding around a 1/3 of the town. Ipswich has a population of 155000 people.
Brisbane hit a peak at high tide today of just over two meters. Over 30 suburbs were evacuated. The Central Business District of Brisbane was shut down and evacuated as the River broke its banks and flooded into the city and suburbs.
That was at a level of two meters. On Thursday afternoon, they are predicting a peak of 5.8 meters. Previous record in 1974 was 5.5. This is another 12 inches higher than anything previously, and 3.8 meters higher than today.
On Thursday, 80+ suburbs will be at risk, its expected somewhere between 40,000 and 100,000 properties will be affected by the flood peak.
The river is expected to remain at peak levels until at least Saturday.
Wivenhoe dam is now at 190%, and taking in more water than it can release. Its maximum capacity is 225%, at which point one of the experts stated this.
"The Wivenhoe Dam is not designed to be overtopped, it is what we call an embankment dam. And if water was to flow over the top of the crest of the dam, there would be a very high risk of erosion of the dam wall and ultimately catastrophic failure of the dam," he said.
Story here http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/11/3110758.htm?section=justin
If this lets go the damage to lives and property would be unimaginable.
To date the latest human cost is.
10 confirmed deaths, 78 missing/unaccounted for. 18 gravely concerned for.
Entire families in the lockyer valley and district are missing.
Brisbane city is in lockdown basically. I've had to close work. We spent the morning helping businesses move computer equipment out of the flood zones as best we could, then evacuations started and I had to send all the staff home to look after their own properties and families.
We are lucky, aside from some local flooding we should be clear of the flood zone.
The biggest impact to us will be electricity. We've been advised that from tomorrow they will need to start cutting off power because of underground high voltage supply systems. Anywhere from 100,000 to 250,000 homes will be without power, for an undetermined time frame.
And we thought that we could leave behind the dramas of 2010 and start afresh for 2011.
2011 looks like being a memorable year, for so many wrong reasons.
Kind regards
-G