Is everyone ok? (Silly question really , would you post if you weren't?) I ask because I have a friend in Stretton , Brisbane area and I cannot rouse her by email. Anybody knows how that area is faring?

Ren, I THINK Stretton is one of the areas evacuated. So your friend is probably at an evacuation centre.
Hope she is OK... I have family in Bris, and have not yet heard from them.
I am the other side of the country, and we have morons lighting fires after one of the driest winters on record.

Thanks Tezza. I will try to be patient and wait to hear from her.

Tezza I hope the fires were nowhere near where you are? My sister's friend lost her house and all her stuff this week which is sad. I live in Perth near the hills and my street got evacuated a few weeks ago when there was a fire running through there. At least I am far enough away from too much bush to worry too much about it. Although as soon as we know there's a fire close the aircon is turned off and we shut all the doors.

It seems incomprehensible that we have hardly any water to speak of whereas over the other side of the country they have so much. Although I wouldn't wish the floods on us or the fires on them!

And those morons who are starting the fires need to be shot.

Lones, nowhere near.. thanks for asking though.. we are inland around an hour north of Albany.. and after the rain we had last week, there is nothing left to burn, so we will be carting water and feed to stock until the autumn rains come in ! Sick of going out to the cattle and have them look at me like I am the world's worst when I bring only two bales.. but if I feed them more than that, we will have starving cattle down the track.
The heifers are being preg tested and sold in the next few weeks (the steers have already gone), and we will have to start building up the herd again when the rains come again.
Sometimes I think only a bloody idiot would be a farmer !

Ren, as far as I can find out, Stretton is NOT affected, but communication is.
I found out that my uncle, who is ex Australian Federal Police is heavily involved in co-ordination and hasn't been to bed for three days !

I heard from a Brizzie mate of mine today by email. Ren, power had been cut to some areas so your friends may not be able to email for a while until the power is back on. That won't happen until the water goes down in flooded areas.. even then I don't know when I'd be game to plug something into a powerpoint if my house had been flooded

Electrical substations were shut down a couple of days ago if they were in danger of inundation. They will be switching them on again gradually as they are certified safe, but it may be several days before all power is restored.

I heard Brisbane's Lord Mayor appeal urgently for trained electricians to volunteer to inspect homes for electrical safety before evacuees can return. No wages on offer, but travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Ren, worst case scenario for your friend is a badly flooded house. The only fatality in Brisbane has been a young man who ignored a Road Closed sign and was sucked into a storm water drain.
Please let us know when you hear from her.

Tezza, our "wide brown land" can be very cruel and ironic at times. Hope you'll get your precious rain, but in manageable doses.

I will, and bless you all for your kind thoughts.

There are so many charities and appeals for Qld flood relief but I'll mention this because it's a way of doubling your donation. If you go to Woolies, Big W or Dick Smith's you can make a donation via the checkout. What ever you give will be matched by Woolies! I don't know if you MUST make a purchase or not but everyone can go in a buy a packet of chewie or something first if you do have to purchase something. This offer is only open until this Thursday, Jan 20th. Yes, you do get a separate receipt for the donation for tax purposes

Hello to everyone from recovering Brisbane!

As many of you know (hence the thread), Brisbane is well on the way to recovery.

Cleanups continue in Ipswich, waterfront suburbs (Rocklea, Fairfield, Yeronga, Yerongpilly, Milton, etc) and beautiful (???) Moreton Bay.

The first of the funerals is to be held today in Toowoomba - for Donna Rice and her brave young son Jordan.

For those of you who haven't heard the story of Jordan and Donna Rice, they were trapped on the roof of their car when the torrent of water waged through Toowoomba on Monday last week.

Swiftwater rescue teams reached the car and attached a rope to the vehicle.

When the rescue worker reached out to Jordan to take him to safety, he got them to take his younger brother first.

Unfortunately the rope holding the vehicle snapped - such was the force of the water.

When the resuce worker went back to rescue Jordan and his mum they were gone.

At the request of his father, Jordan Rice will be buried on top of his Mum today, forever symbolising her holding him in her arms.

RIP Jordan Rice

RIP Donna Rice

Every house affected by the floods have to be completely checked and probably rewired before they can use their power.

We had more storms last night and more rain expected.
Around Ipswich and some other areas trees came down and caused more damage.

Although thousands of volunteers are helping clean up the sludge etc there is still a long way to go.

Most roads are open so food is getting back onto the supermarket shelves.


Hopefully the towns that were flooded, or expecting more flooding for the second time around, will remain safe and can get on with rebuilding their towns.

Thousands are homeless and so far the death count is 20.
Many of the missing people are not expected to be found.

So heartbreaking.

Hi Ozfei,

I was on the northside of Bris-Vegas yesterday afternoon, and mother nature sure did put on a show. Thankfully, it wasn't quite as bad as the performances last week.

I heard a rumour earlier that some of the shops that have re-opened are charging $10 for a loaf of bread and the same for a bottle of milk. Scandalous - it makes me want to go to my local Coles and buy $200 worth of each and just go and GIVE them to people. I hope karma bites the profiteers on the bottom - and soon.

I'm on the southside, and came through the flooding unscathed (apart from extra hours at work....). For that, I am truly grateful.

I just hope that all the people who have lost everything are able to have hope. I wish I could do more, and I think that's a common feeling for most people. Let's hope life can return to some semblance of what it was before soon for these people.

Oh Ecnalubma, that is disgusting !
Can only hope things get back to normal in the not TOO distant future, and that the profiteers get what they deserve.

After the Victorian fires, a member of a Lions club in the area started an appeal called "Tools for Tradies", where tradesmen in other areas / states donated essential tools so that those who lost everything in the fires could get back to work and start making a living again. Sadly, Rob, a builder, died late last year, so he can't repeat his wonderful project, but hopefully, some other Lions Club will take it on !
And finally, may Donna & Jordan rest in peace.

ecnalubma, not a rumour but true. Those traders should be named and shamed so when things are back on an even keel everybody can boycott them.

Luckily those who are taking advantage are in the minority.

I would just for the outrageous prices. I remember when Katrina hit New Orleans 5½ years ago, gas (petrol) stations were raising prices to near or over $6/gal.

Another sort of profiteer. A family living in one of the flood ridden suburbs with the $10m homes (Tennyson?) saw the water rising and got out so everyone was safe and sound. They came back to find their house had escaped the flooding but... the robbers had got in and cleaned them out. Now if you can afford to live in a $10m home can you imagine the sort of furnishings that would have existed?

I also heard that people were driving their cars towards rising floodwaters and getting out before any imminent danger in the hope of said cars floating down the street.

The insurance companies have been telling some people not to clean up their mess because they have to get in and conduct an assessment!! Tell that to someone who is cleaning up that smelly muddy sludge, rotting food, rotting carpets and furniture etc.

Surprisingly I live in a flat suburb next to the river and experienced no flooding at all. Go figure!

I can't imagine trying to live with the smell if I couldn't clean up.

In situations like this, insurance companies need to get real and accept photos as evidence of loss - every man and his dog these days has a digital camera (or at least access to one). Waiting for a claims assessor is like waiting for Santa....

I hope everyone who has stolen something from a person or family who was flooded can sleep at night - but I suppose if you're the kind of person who can steal like that, then you can live with yourself. Lower than scum.