From Cathy:
Would you terribly mind posting an urgent prayer request for this tonight:
If the Wivenhoe Dam breaks or overflows in any serious way, thousands of people in Brisbane could die. The 1974 floods were disastrous. It seems to be doing its job at the moment, as they say, but it is holding a horrendous amount of water. My dad's house is in one of the suburbs that has been warned to expect flooding,
cathy x
From the Couriermail.com:
A BODY of floodwater larger than Sydney Harbour threatens Brisbane, with only the Wivenhoe Dam's 2.3km-long earthen wall standing in its path.
Police are advising people near the Brisbane River at West End to move to higher ground.
"The Brisbane River has risen and we are starting to see the water enter streets in the low lying areas of West End." a police spokesman said.
This comes after Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman warned yesterday that more water was flowing into the Wivenhoe Dam than the Brisbane River had received in the 1974 floods.
The Brisbane City Council last night issued a warning for residents in more than 30 suburbs to expect flooding.
Read the rest at the link above.
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayers and protect the people threatened by floodwaters in Australia. Among all the changes and chances of this life, defend them by your gracious and ready help, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
UPDATE: Brian at Noble Wolf posted a video of floodwaters inundating the city of Toowoomba in Queensland. 8 are dead, and 70 are missing.
I've now spoken to my dad on the phone and he has pooh-poohed the story and says he doesn't expect the flooding to be major or the floodwaters to reach his house. He says there are no signs of any problems with the dam. I hope he's right.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this, Mimi - I'm really grateful.
Cathy, I hope your dad's right, too. You're quite welcome.
ReplyDeleteI have just posted about the terrible flash flood upstream of Brisbane in the city of Toowoomba. 8 dead and 70 missing. This water will eventually reach Brisbane but hopefully more gradual giving time for people to move out of harm's way.
ReplyDeleteBrian, the flash flood sounds terrifying.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I do hope my dad isn't just being stupid.
As it turns out my dad is just being stupid. The city council has published a list of streets almost certain to be flooded in the next two days, of which his is one. I rang him today and asked him to get a taxi to my uncle's (he has now spoken to him and organised to stay there). He won't go till tomorrow and he is still saying there is no immediate danger. He reckons he is just going to go down the street and get a train if it does start looking nasty. I'm ringing him at 5am to make sure he goes when he says he will.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I'm grateful to hear that your dad will get the hell out. Flash floods don't give folks time to get out of the way.
ReplyDeleteHe is going to get the hell out, Mimi, but not till tomorrow. The waters are already rising - a shopping centre had to be evacuated on the other side of the river today. My dad's confidence that he will be able to get a train if the situation turns bad concerns me. Sadly I can't make him go to his brother's right away. I asked him to and he just said no.
ReplyDeleteWell, I hate to say it about your father, but he's foolish not to leave now.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, particularly since his main reason for staying is he wants to move all his aviation magazines and paraphernalia into the loft. He says in the 1974 floods the water reached within eight inches of the ceiling but everything in the loft was safe. These floods are predicted to be worse than 1974. In any case, they're just blimming magazines. I pleaded with him, but he just got stubborn.
ReplyDeleteThe house isn't even insured, he said today. This is the house he planned to leave me in his will (the Melbourne house he plans to leave to my brother, who has lived there all his life). So, that's my bit of the inheritance up the chimney, probably. For what that part of it is worth. This is the house my grandpa from Walthamstow built himself when he and my grandma emigrated from the UK to Brisbane in the 1920s.
Also, my dad reckons that what he is going to do is stay with my uncle for just a couple of days till the floodwaters recede, then move straight back into the house. He does not seem to be thinking straight about the likely effect of a catastrophic flood on a house.
ReplyDeleteSorry if I seem to be grumbling at great length, everyone. This has upset me quite a lot.
Cathy, I think your concerns are quite justified. Let's pray the dam holds.
ReplyDeleteCathy, feel free to grumble as much as you like. I hope the house does not flood, especially after knowing that your grandfather built it himself and that it is meant to be yours one day.
ReplyDeleteHouses which are badly flooded are not habitable as soon as the water recedes. I saw too many flooded houses after Katrina to convince me of that. In fact, I helped gut a house with a group of bloggers. It was not fun.
Thanks, Mother Amelia and Mimi.
ReplyDeleteI think the house will probably flood. It's brick, so it will keep standing, but as to the damage to the interior, who can say.
I do pray your Father sees sense, Kathy. The trains are all disrupted and it is not yet 5am in Brisbane, Even respectable news says the dam is at risk. Prayers
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brian. As an update, I have just tried to ring my dad, but he is not answering. I rang Uncle Tom, who said that is because the phone lines will have been cut off. He said my dad's house would probably be about two feet under water by now. He seemed quite unworried and said the trains were still running and there would be no problem for my dad getting out. I asked him to call me as soon as he heard from my dad.
ReplyDeleteMy dad is safe - he reached my uncle's house about 20 minutes ago. Kindly neighbours gave him a lift. It turns out when he left his house the water had not quite reached it. Thanks be to God. I am so relieved.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear this, Kathy. Even over in NZ our news is full of the unfolding tragedy in Queensland. My only close friends live down near Cleveland which I think is well away from the river.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I'm relieved, too. TBTG and kindly neighbors.
ReplyDeleteMy picture with the post disappeared, so I looked for another. The photos remind me of New Orleans after Katrina, when the levees broke.
Mimi, I can imagine Katrina probably comes vividly to mind with every flood anywhere in the world.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I'll always have flashbacks when I see flood pictures and remember that nearly 1500 people drowned in New Orleans.
ReplyDelete