Not Flooded

The awful floods here in Queensland seem to be making the world news as we've had people ask if we've been affected. The question is not surprising since the floods cover an area the size of New South Wales, or the size of France and Germany put together.

No, we're not flooded here close to Brisbane, but have had the wettest December on record. We've had so much rain that, in our area, the recorded rainfall was twice that of the previous wettest December. There's still 3 months of rain to come and the possbility of a few cyclones so we're not ruling out flooding in Brisbane. After all, with full dams the water has to go somewhere. I think we'd be safe where we are - there would have to be enormous flooding in the rest of our town before it got anywhere near us who are a bit higher up.

I have a couple of friends in the flooded towns. Both are safe and dry but know people who have lost everything with no hope of insurance. They were insured, but the insurance company wouldn't give them flood insurance.

Nine years ago I remember going to the park near us in bright sunshine. Then huge clouds came over and dumped 16 inches of rain in 4-5 hours. It was a once-in-a-century event. At one point I wondered if we were going to be on the news after standing on the roof of the picnic area. Before it got to that point we waded through knee-high water (me carrying Matt) to get home. I never underestimate the speed at which water rises.

I'm praying for a drier start to 2011 without the predicted cyclones.