Maybe the looters could be assigned to community service, like helping the bull sharks get back to open water, and taking the black snakes home … after they finish shoveling the mud out of a few homes.

I was just shutting down everything to go to bed when I saw your comment. No worries… I thought it was funny, and many others here also see the humor in it (it’s in our nature). 😉 😆

I was going to post an update, but I got called away. Been busy cleaning up & helping neighbors. Tomorrow will have to do (though we have to get ready for our garage sale this weekend… really hope the rain stops! *sigh*

Oh, I will post a quick update… (in the new thread). 😉

OK. G’night all! And many thanks! 😀

of course, the shark isn’t really funny irl, but it provided a nice touch of comic relief in an otherwise grim litany. what a mess.

I’ll post an update in the new thread Bryan. Many thanks for keeping everyone posted on this tragedy. I know you are very busy also, your time is much appreciated. 🙂

We are OK. Luckily we are not in the lowlands, but unluckily we are only about halfway up a hill and so we are getting the runoff from above us. *shrug* Still, it’s worse for those below us. Also luckily, this house was built high back when people wanted lot’s of space under the house for many reasons (50’s & 60’s). So the inside house is high and dry. Underneath is another story. Thankfully, we had already moved out stuff we had stored there, but we had most of it in the garage which is flooded. Oh well… 😉 😀

It’s obvious from he weather reports and maps on BoM that the torrential rain is moving South. The past few days, Vic has been hit hard, and today Tasmania has been hit, with about 110mm rain in the past 24 hours to Nth. Tas. and flash flooding has occurred in several areas.

In terms of magnitude of the disaster in terms of area and damage to homes, industries, businesses and infrastructure, this is one of the very worst in my lifetime, if not THE worst National natural disaster.

Yeah CJ, we have a lot in common, sadly. Too bad it’s disaster’s that unite us. 😉 I am glad that you managed to survive your State’s disasters! And I really hope you don’t live on or too close to the coast (as nice as the coast of CA is)! It’s only a matter of time I think before it disappears. 🙁 And yeah, we’ve pretty much had it all, the ONLY good thing about these floods is that it’s done what we couldn’t, gotten rid of the locust plague! Talk about mixed blessings! 😉 😛 😆

OK… I’ll continue an update in the new thread!

Yeah, the lack of potable water is always a major problem in floods. After they get contaminated it takes forever to clean out the municipal water mains and get the sewer systems back on line.

We are seeing similar temperatures as you report, Kryten, except that ours are in Fahrenheit. Our new winter weather pattern is going to require some rethinking.

I’ve been looking at the maps from the ABoM and it isn’t a good pattern. Another typhoon could show up at any time and kick start the entire process again.

Stay as safe as possible.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=43673

I think we still have had more temblors than y’all, though.

Things are pretty bad in Qld., especially around Brisbane. I wanted to post an update, but truthfully… I don’t know where to start. *sigh*

Twelve people are confirmed dead, with one other possible. The Qld. Police Commissioner stated that they expect that to rise. The loss of animals, including livestock and pets, is unknown but very high. The Fed. Government has said that the expect that cost of this disaster to be at least 1% of Australia’s GDP for the next year, and that prices of food and commodities globally will rise significantly. Qld. was the largest exporter of thermal and coking coal, and several mines are completely flooded. Coking coal is used primarily these days to manufacture steel worldwide, so steel prices are going to rise.

A large area of Qld. is without power as utilities were forced to shutdown supply to flood areas. Several sewerage & treatment plants have been flooded, and much of the flood water has been contaminated, which has then contaminated catchment areas, dam’s and river systems. So clean drinking water is a big problem ironically. Some outbreaks of gastro problems have been reported primarily caused by E. Coli. Outbreaks of Dengi & Ross River Fever are expected also. Emergency Hospitals and Medical centers have been setup where possible near affected areas, and the Army Medical Corps have setup at least one rapid deployment field hospital with staff experienced in tropical disease control.

As well as sanitation issues, and dealing with hundreds of annoyed critters like red-bellied black snakes and assorted spiders looking for a dry place, a bull shark was spotted swimming up the main street of Goodna, a suburb of Ipswitch. Though the street was under 6m of water at the time. 😉

Oh! Also of vital national importance… the entire XXXX Brewery complex is under water (with only the roof’s of some buildings showing). Many a tear will be shed over that (though, not to many of us down south who know what a decent beer actually tastes like!) Ahem. 😉

Locally (here in Victoria), we had some flash flooding with rains over 100mm in a few hours to the West of the State (which surprised me). It was a strange day here, lot’s of rain of course, but whilst the temperature only reached 25C, the humidity was almost unbearably high at a peak of 90%! The dehumidifier in our A/C was going flat out, but worked. After working in the garage repacking boxes for 30-40 min’s at a time, we had to come inside and change to dry clothes, and not from rain or water! I think I drank about 4 or 5 liters of chilled water, and had a lot of salted crackers and nuts! (One of the few times I was glad I’d spent time in hot & humid Cambodia!) Even though it’s almost 2AM, the temp is currently 23C and humidity has dropped a little. About a 40km stretch of the Great Ocean Road was closed due to land- and mud-slides. However, none of the problems here are anywhere near as bad as in Qld. So we can count ourselves lucky I guess.

Soaked Victoria warned of flash flooding

And, leaving the worst for last… Looters have been spotted in Ipswitch and other flooded towns! Truly scum of the Earth! The Commissioner & Premier have stated that when caught, they will feel the full and considerable wight of the law. Personally, I would opt for a much cheaper and faster way of dealing with them. With all that water… it may as well serve a useful purpose.

There’s a lot more… but I need to try to get some sleep. lot to do over the next few days. 🙂

Cheers all.. and thanks again. 🙂

Oh, and Ame… thanks for that story! It did make me smile! I shall pass it on. 😀

G’night all…

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=48524