We haven't been affected directly by the floods. Thank goodness.
Though I was woken this morning by sirens. And News helicopters are constantly flying overhead. Last night we had a phone call from Norway to check how we were!
This photo is taken from our top verandah, so you can see how high and dry we are ... diagonally through those trees is the suburb of Rosalie which centres around little cafes and delis and restaurants. It's been swallowed by the flood.
I'd go out and take some photos, but I really don't want to take the four children with me and look on others' misery without being able to chip-in and help.
The floods have made me realise how much stuff we have that we don't need. Items which we've grown out of, but I haven't been able to pass on.
Now I have a good excuse to give these things away ... though local charities aren't asking for material donations at the moment ... they really need money ... a lot of their infrastructure is affected and, obviously, the people who need goods don't have houses to put them in.
Glad to hear you're safe. It's just terrible. My heart goes out to all those affected. Quite surreal to watch it all unfold from Melbourne. Even more surreal - unimaginably so - to be there. Thinking of you all. x
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs someone like Lilli in their lives.
ReplyDeleteBless you, Lilli.
So glad you're okay and the sun is shining! Those goods will be needed soon. Little ones need toys. Wish I could help.
ReplyDeleteHey mmmc have you heard from Sonia at raine and sage? I feel worried for her she is rocklea side of corinda and I just realized I have not seen comments from her lately and I cannot find her ph number.I hope she just has no power or Internet. This is all just so awful. Sending you a hug through blog world xx katherine
ReplyDeleteDid you know the person from Norway or was it a rogue Norwigan Viking calling to forewarn you that they are on their way down under to plunder what is left of QLD?
ReplyDeleteLike you, we are high and dry. And, as I see the images of the extent of what people are losing, I keep thinking of the things I no longer really need. My list of "what to grab in an emergency" is getting smaller and smaller by the hour.
ReplyDeleteA very sad situation. I'm relieved to hear that you and your family are okay. The devastation is really incomprehensible isn't it? There will be many needs in the coming days and months and I'm certain toys for the displaced children will be high on the list of needs.
ReplyDeleteOBH, I just emailed her pal Meg and Mum's and I'll see if she has a contact for her. Her power will just be out.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are more telling and 'real' than the media's - you have the perspective of a real person and makes me feel that I better understand it (minus the helicopter noise). So happy that you and your family are safe. Does your husband continue to go to work, or is he hunkered down too?
ReplyDeleteHave been thinking about you mmmc. Great to hear that you are high and dry. I used to live in Rosalie so I know it well and feel very sad. This whole thing is so very sad!
ReplyDeleteFunny, since these floods I have been looking around here and looking at all of my 'stuff' and thinking I need to pass this on.
Take care and look after yourselveds and don't go in the water!
Pam x
aaargh! Made a spelling mistake - sorry! Pam x
ReplyDelete(I hate spelling mistakes!!...it's the keyboard!)
Zigsma,
ReplyDeleteI think it's been pretty wet in Victoria too. I've decided I don't like water too much at the moment.
DMC,
Yes, Lilli and her Queensland Bureau of Meteorology-stalking family are remarkable.
Deb,
I hope the toys can be of use. I feel like we are cleaning out for a good reason. There are some good ones in the mix. Poor little people without homes.
ONH, still waiting to hear back from 'meg and mum's' re Sonia.
Miss Rosie, we know the Norwegians. There's not much left for the Vikings if they did come pillaging!
MCM,
happened all of a sudden. Christmas seems a long time ago!
Laura,
I could take much better photos if I went out and about. There is a good coverage on the Courier Mail website ... but it almost begins to border on schadenfreude. The husband is going to work - he thinks he's going to get very busy as the search for people continues.
Pam,
you stay out of the water (sludgy filth) too! To think you were only yachting-about, a couple of weeks ago! The whole thing does make one contemplative about what we have.
Toss your keyboard into the quagmire! That'll show it!
Dear MMMC,
ReplyDeletethank God you're okay.
Including everbody is well and unharmed, having water to drink, enough food, electricity (money!) and something else what you need in the moment.
This flood...and the others natural disasters, show me what is essantial...and what isn't. Cooperativeness and solidarity is...
Love,
Ariane.
Oh yes, have all that ready for when donations of goods are ready. Having faced a few cyclones in our postings to Darwin, you certainly know what you need to take with you in an emergency, i was also raised in a bush fire prone area of Sydney (north shore right on the Wild Flower Gardens) so we always had the precious things packed. The clean up will be amazingly hard work, all that sludge & debris.
ReplyDeleteThinking of all your Queenslanders & doing our best to fundraise. If i was in town, i'd bake for the SES, that sounds like such a can-do-right-now kind of thing. Love Posie
Great to see you still have your wicked sense of humour. Pam x
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you're okay. I have been checking the BOM and trying to match it to the places where I know you and others live. The scale of it beggars belief. It must be hard shielding your kids from it all.
Hope you continue to keep it all going as admirably as you already are.
X
I have been on a new "diet" and haven't seen any footage of the disaster...thats not to say im not aware of it. i get my news from public radio and have to turn that off often because i get so darn overwhelmed by a helpless feeling!
ReplyDeleteI am sooooo glad you are all safe. what a trip to be in it but "not". i pray it all knocks it off right quick!
I shouldn't say this aloud but i do all the time..."end of days, i joke...end of days..." its not funny anymore.
I lived on the gold coast for a spell, on one of those little canals...bet its all gone.
hang in there and stay up high!
xo milady
so pleased to hear your family is safe. Just had a short (3 words..we are ok), on facebook from a dear friend in Brisbane, I guess he's at a friends or somewhere. Typical of him, give some information but not enough!
ReplyDeleteHated that Slug you got, yuck I don't even think I could have removed that with rubber gloves and a plastic spade.
There's something very cathartic about a declutter isn't there? I think the fallout from the floods will go on for a very long time so those things that you can donate will be really appreciated...sometime down the track :) It must be very surreal up there.
ReplyDeletemy daughter has spent today thanking her house for being dry... (and wishing some dragons were available to help people get around while the roads are blocked...) I too am thankful, and also reassessing what we really need (even though we're too far away to really be donating our things directly to QLD, hopefully we might have more money to give to those who need it) xo
ReplyDeleteHa! Can picture the crowds parting at Woolies to let you and your brood through. Hope Dapper Dan was dressed to impress! Stay dry. Keep us laughing. A
ReplyDeleteIt feels so helpless when you're watching on the telly from so far away. I'm making a donation and then just waiting until there's a call for something more that I can contribute.
ReplyDeleteThinking of all of you Queenslanders.
Cam x
Sorry I'm late, I tossed my keyboard into the quagmire, and well...
ReplyDeleteBlue sky over Brisbane, that's all we want to see now! (I'm not sure the Vikings went as far as Australia, it's England you should blame for your exotic atmosphere.) Love Lilli
Glad you guys are all ok. My lot are all fine, apart from my cousin who's abode is more than a little damp. But then he recently graduated his course with a GPA of over 6.5 so you can't have everything, can you?
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you are okay. I hope the sun comes out fast and dries everything a little bit. You'll see, things will slowly get back to normal. I gave away so much stuff when we had the flood, it's not only money that people need. A girl I know is fostering cats and dogs while their owners are fixxing their houses. A simple hand like this sometimes it's worth a million.
ReplyDeleteMomma, I think I finally figured this out!! it's so sad over there with all the flooding and over here we have shootings and we lost that little 9yr old girl....SAD!
ReplyDeleteI'm off to catch up sweetie I'm a few days behind so sorry!
Wow Carmel that is so close to home, you must feel unbelievably lucky to have not been affected, hope things return to some sort of normality soon, thinking of you x
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear your family is ok. But so sad for all of those sirens and for the families and individuals who are not.
ReplyDelete