Sunday, January 16, 2011

after the floods....

since the wall of water hit my home town of toowoomba on the 10th of January, i have been watching the rolling coverage of the floods every spare second and am brought to tears nearly every time... the devastation is phenomenal and hard for me to grasp. my mind feels muddy and i literally have to tell myself to turn the TV off so that i can get some work done. my gorgeous hubby managed to tag along with my brother in law and their band of merry men to go and help out a mate in the suburb of rocklea. mick spent the whole day on the gurney cleaning the heavy, silty mud off the walls and he said to see the devastation first hand in mind numbing. the man they helped has lost every single thing. they literally guttered the whole house so that it is now a shell ready for new plaster, doors, cupboards etc... and he is just one person out of over 20000homes...this will take years to recover from.
anyhow, we took a walk down to our local river that is situated a suburb from our home and took some photos of the carnage left from this torrent of water that flowed through. it was so high that it covered the train tracks and major bridge that takes us over the pine river.
a shelter shed littered with trees and posts, imagine how high the water must have been to leave those posts on top of the roof!a tree uprooted and dragged along.
the debris in the tall reaches of this tree gives us and idea of the height
some of the marks on the column holding the bridge showing us the height of the water, further along the track the water went over.
major damage to this stretch of road...we use this every day when going to our jobs.
this toilet block brings new meaning to the term 'water closet'
amazing photos, would have been great to have photos of the water at its peak but i was one of the law abiding citizens who stayed off the road @_@
as the clean up continues i pray that they find survivors in the Lockyer valley and that people can get back to some sort of normality as soon as possible. my girls have started in earnest to clear out all of the toys, dvds, books and clothes they think some other girls would love and i will put together items for men and women. the director of Claudia's day care will take a bus load over to another day care that lost everything in the suburb of Belbowrie and is asking for any good quality items that can be spared. my girls love the thought of helping someone else their age to get a smile back on their face.
keep praying for those affected.
xrosey

8 comments:

A Bite of Country Cupcakes said...

It Has been horrendous!
Victoria too has been hit hard My BIL and Sil were evacuated and they today have a Rally of friends assisting them to clean and sort the mess left as the water subsides....Thankfully for them it did'nt make it into their actual home but most the other towns homes were NOT spared.
Aussies are a good lot of getting together and helping out one another....True surviving spirit

Christy Amular said...

Praying for all of you affected by this terrible flood. God give you strength, resilience and faith to pull through and recover. Be strong.

Maria-Thérèse ~ www.afiori.com said...

What a horrible thing to happen, and to so many people! Glad you and your family are okay and even able to help others out.

Linda Lilly said...

I too want to cry out..enough already...and have found it really really helpful to not listen to the T.V. anymore, just the radio and check updates on FB. It has made a huge difference and I feel more positive about making a difference. I am so proud to be an Australian I tell you, would any other country be a quick to jump up dust themselves off and get down to work....we ae awesome...she says modestly.
Now tell me what does this daycare need? Kiss Noises Linda

sassypackrat said...

We in the US know about and have had our share of devastating floods. I feel for those affected in your country and know the hardships they will endure and wish them all the best.

Kerryanne @ Shabby Art Boutique said...

I feel numb watching the news reports Rosey. Your photos really illustrate how devastating it was - what a mess!!
Glad you were safe.
Hugs ~ Kerryanne

babalisme said...

OH MY!

Horrible horrible things happened lately in many part of the world. I heard that a lot of snakes and even ?sharks? are drifted by, I hope it's not true. My prayers for your family. be Strong!!

kisses and hugss

urban craft said...

oh r! this is crazy.
Hugs to you guys from Oregon.