Queensland Floods

[Smurf1976]

Not wanting to detract from the disaster in Qld by any means, but spare a thought also for those affected by floods in NSW, Vic and Tas.

The scale may not be comparable to Qld, but for those left with a house full of water, roads washed away etc it is still a disaster for them personally.

As for dams bursting, it's not major storages such as Wivenhoe that you need to worry about. It's things like farm dams that have far lesser safety standards of design and construction that you need to worry about. http://www.examiner.com.au/news/loc...-underway-in-clayton-river-basin/2047696.aspx

 

[Julia]

Deepest sympathies to all of those affected by the floods. Hope you're okay up there in Bundy Julia.

I'm actually not in Bundy, WS, but a bit south, and we've not been nearly as badly affected. Many thanks for the thought.

I donated 5k to the cause. Here's hoping it gets to those who really need it.

Generous of you. I think we all have that same worry about exactly how much of our donations reach where they are needed.

At the same time, I keep coming back to the worry that if people are going to be bailed out when they have failed to insure, aren't we setting up the principle that it just doesn't pay to take responsibility and insure your property?

And I'm also blown away by the determination of so many of these people living in frequently flooded areas who have been through this multiple times, yet they still say "we'll come back and start again". Why, fergawdsake? Especially if you can't get flood insurance there?

This attitude seems to be lauded as immense stoicism and courage. Imo it's just damn silly. If I got flooded out totally just once, I'd be off to safer ground, no question.

It's just like the people in the Victorian bushfires who lost their homes and almost lost their lives. But, they proudly said, we will be going back and will rebuild our homes.
I just don't get it.

You ain't gonna prevent this in future, no matter what half-arsed attempts are made. Mother Nature always lets us know who's boss. Bit like the markets actually.

Exactly. So why wouldn't you choose your place of residence accordingly!

 

[pedalofogus]

I totally agree Julia. My best mate lives in oxley and was one of the first under water this week. When they bought the house they said they had to live in oxley for the lifestyle and to be close to Brisbane cbd. But they only had a max of 400k to spend. So as a result the only place they could get was right in the lowest point of oxley. I told them before they bought it that it was flood area, didn't want to listen. I found them a place in the same suburb as me in ipswich for 350k, they said they didn't want to live in ipswich. I then did an insurance quote on their behalf that included flood insurance, they didn't want to know about it.2 years later, here we are with them left with nothing.

Now I will go and help them clean up tomorrow, and I will pray that the generosity of others will help them back to their feet, because I don't want to see my best mates suffer. But if I was just a random person donating to the appeal I would be thinking to myself "why should I work my bum off and then donate my earnings to someone who didn't care enough to keep themselves out of that situation in the first place?"

 

[Wysiwyg]

And I'm also blown away by the determination of so many of these people living in frequently flooded areas who have been through this multiple times, yet they still say "we'll come back and start again". Why, fergawdsake? Especially if you can't get flood insurance there?

In order to sell and move to higher ground the dwelling has to be made attractive for sale. I think that is what many actually mean by rebuilding. For those that decide to stay it is a risk thing. Take the risk that another flood will be a long time away.

Donation wise I would like my contribution to go locally here in C.Q.

 

[BradK]

I'm sure everyone is aware of the disaster that is affecting much of Queensland at present. Much inconvenience for most of us, but huge loss for many whose homes and businesses have been inundated.

Reason for the thread is my utter disgust that Premier Anna Bligh, as a result of huge public pressure via the media, actually dragged herself back from holiday to swan about in a chopper today and declare open the "Flood Appeal", magnificently begun by the massive donation of the government of a whole $1 million!!!

How obscenely disgusting. This paltry sum is probably less than is being spent with the fireworks in Brisbane on New Year's Eve.

No wonder she has an approval rating of about 27%.
It wouldn't even be that much if the opposition had anything to recommend them.

A hell of a lot has changed in 3 weeks, hasn't it? Who'd have thought the scale would be so great?

 

[BradK]

My wife and I have been talking about how much to give and where.

Woolworths are going to match, dollar for dollar, any donation made through its checkout and give a tax deductible receipt. Woolworths say that there will be no limit - they will match their customer's giving.

My wife and I are going to give through that channel. They will be channeling their funds to the Salvation Army.

Brad

 

[burglar]

I hardly ever watch TV

When I saw a boat on the footpath ... I laughed (out loud).

Later, the Channel 9 chopper reunited a man with his daughter and grand kids.
I choked and a little tear ran down my cheek.


Ohh, Ohh, and I so laughed when I saw how Queenslanders build railway lines!

An emotional rollercoaster ... I feel for you guys!


PS Pity there is only one Channel 9 chopper to go around.

 

[Calliope]

The heroic Mr Rudd had to be admitted to hospital for a few hours after incurring a war wound (a minor foot abrasion) which he incurred while getting down and dirty on Wednesday for the benefit of an ABC film crew.

When Bligh said "we breed'em tough in Queensland ", she should have added "except for Mr Rudd".

 

[Calliope]

Woolworths are going to match, dollar for dollar, any donation made through its checkout and give a tax deductible receipt. Woolworths say that there will be no limit - they will match their customer's giving.

One of the things ignored by the media in a crisis like this, is the terrific organising ability of big firms like Woolworths and Coles in getting food and other essentials to affected flood localities, often by very circuitous routes, including Army helicopters.

People also often forget that their staffs and management are local people too, and are suffering the same trauma.

 

[pedalofogus]

One of the things ignored by the media in a crisis like this, is the terrific organising ability of big firms like Woolworths and Coles in getting food and other essentials to affected flood localities, often by very circuitous routes, including Army helicopters.

People also often forget that their staffs and management are local people too, and are suffering the same trauma.

Yes, agree with your comment on local managers. Our local woolies manager here was telling me yesterday that he had 2 trucks of goods coming last night, but he couldn't get any staff to stock shelves. Saw him this morning, he worked all night last night stocking shelves so that us residents can get some food.

But don't get too complimentary of the major supermarkets. I have a client who is a supplier to coles. They got an email from coles on Thursday asking them to make a 5000 donation to coles to replace lost profits from the floods. How the hell can a major corporation try and get a donation from a small business. Especially when those suppliers are doing it even tougher when their products can't be sold.

 

[Macquack]

The heroic Mr Rudd had to be admitted to hospital for a few hours after incurring a war wound (a minor foot abrasion) which he incurred while getting down and dirty on Wednesday for the benefit of an ABC film crew.

When Bligh said "we breed'em tough in Queensland ", she should have added "except for Mr Rudd".

Don't criticise Kevin Rudd unless you are doing something yourself.

 

[Smurf1976]

But don't get too complimentary of the major supermarkets. I have a client who is a supplier to coles. They got an email from coles on Thursday asking them to make a 5000 donation to coles to replace lost profits from the floods. How the hell can a major corporation try and get a donation from a small business. Especially when those suppliers are doing it even tougher when their products can't be sold.

This needs to be in the national media until such time as Coles (1) reverses its position and (2) donates a substantial sum of money (at least 10 times the total amount they have asked suppliers to donate to them) as a gesture of goodwill.

A totally unacceptable business practice.

 

[Smurf1976]

Not wanting to detract from the disaster in Qld by any means, but spare a thought also for those affected by floods in NSW, Vic and Tas.

The scale may not be comparable to Qld, but for those left with a house full of water, roads washed away etc it is still a disaster for them personally.

An outright disaster in Qld, significant floods in NSW and Vic, residents evacuated due to floods in in parts of northern Tas and I hear there's a few local issues due to the rain in SA and NT now as well.

Meanwhile they could sure use a bit of this rain to put the fires out in WA...

If you are somewhere in Australia that hasn't been flooded or burnt then you're doing pretty well really.

Aside from the obvious immediate concerns with people losing their lives, having nowhere to live and so on (which are absolutely the highest priority of course), I'm wondering about what happens next. The cost of rebuilding alone would seem to be significant relative to Australia's total GDP, certainly a few %, and we've got key industries like mining and agriculture at a standstill as well.

I keep hearing politicians saying we'll rebuild and so on but I'm wondering if we can actually afford to do so? We seem to be talking tens of billions of $ for Qld alone, and that's without even mentioning the lost exports whilst the mines are shut, crops are ruined and so on. Then add in the damage from floods and fire in the other states which, whilst nowhere near as bad as Qld, does seem to be significant in total.

Can we actually afford to fix all this? Has anyone done the sums? Or is the crisis about to turn into an economic one once the water recedes? And if we do have the money, then do we have the physical resources to do the job? Building materials, labour, equipment and so on? We're talking about a pretty large job here, it's not as though it's only a handfull of homes and a couple of roads that are damaged. This is pretty large scale destruction...

 

[Calliope]

Don't criticise Kevin Rudd unless you are doing something yourself.

I didn't realise that you actually care about the plight of people. It's a bit unusual for a whale lover. Perhaps you could prevail on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to divert some of their huge funding to the flood victims.

 

[Wysiwyg]

They will be channeling their funds to the Salvation Army.

Brad

Yeah. The oft forgotten Salvos. What a humble group of selfless people.

 

[Julia]

.

I keep hearing politicians saying we'll rebuild and so on but I'm wondering if we can actually afford to do so? We seem to be talking tens of billions of $ for Qld alone, and that's without even mentioning the lost exports whilst the mines are shut, crops are ruined and so on. Then add in the damage from floods and fire in the other states which, whilst nowhere near as bad as Qld, does seem to be significant in total.

Can we actually afford to fix all this? Has anyone done the sums? Or is the crisis about to turn into an economic one once the water recedes? And if we do have the money, then do we have the physical resources to do the job? Building materials, labour, equipment and so on? We're talking about a pretty large job here, it's not as though it's only a handfull of homes and a couple of roads that are damaged. This is pretty large scale destruction...

I've been thinking along the same lines, but I suppose there's little alternative.
The people have got to have somewhere to live and if you're not going to rebuild in the flood locations (which would seem utterly sensible to me) you're still going to have to build something somewhere.

And the infrastructure is going to have to be repaired. Can't just decide not to fix a main road e.g.

But as you have pointed, where is all the necessary labour going to come from.
Electricians have suggested people will be waiting weeks, even months for someone to come and certify their place is OK for the power to be turned on. I don't know how any government can improve on this. Would they even bring in the necessary skilled people from other countries on a temporary basis?

Hmm, wonder if there are any electricians, plumbers or other necessary tradespeople in our detention centres?

I just so feel for people who look like being out of their homes for a very long time.

Suppose rental accommodation will be at a premium and rents will rocket up as a consequence.

 

[joea]

Hi
I believe that there are 500 electricans heading to Qld. from other states.

I see the people are gutting their houses, to be relined by chippies.
It is probably the quickest way to rebuild in the first instance, however will those
affected be there in 5 years. That is anybody's guess.

The building industry is in a low at the moment, so there will be plenty of work.
Cheers

 

[Market Depth]

Been out helping with the clean up over the last few days. Lots of stuff going to waste and the dump pile. I'm staggered at the amount actually. Allot of goods could be cleaned up and reused. Managed to save some nice audio equipment (With the owners permission of course). I'll clean it up test it and return the stuff. (I already have too much audio gear) It'll be a nice little joy to hear some of this gear play music again

 

[JimBob]

I was out today to help with the clean up and it was good to see so many people out helping out - so many that they had to turn some people away as they couldnt handle so many people. The Brisbane City Council deserves praise for its work -they have organised buses to get volunteers out to the problem areas. I was in Rosalie and they had about 15 people per house making stripping the houses out and doing whatever cleaning was possible much easier. Then they had bulldozers and rubbish trucks on the street to take the junk straight away as well as fire trucks and street cleaning trucks to try and clean the road up. This scene is being repeated street after street, right across Brisbane. They said they will be prepared for more volunteers tomorrow, there are still some areas that people cant get into due to flood water.

I wonder what will become of all the small businesses who have just lost everything

 

[Calliope]

I remember the trauma after the '74 floods of having to throw out hundreds of treasured books collected over a lifetime. I am now immune from that. All the books I need are now stored on my Kindle.