We're Soggy But Safe!

Most of you ... even my overseas blogging buddies ... have no doubt heard about the weird, wet, WET, WET weather we're having here in Queensland at the moment. Until today, Toowoomba hadn't really been directly affected - but that has changed. Before I tell you what happened, I'll say first off ...

WE ARE FINE!! OUR HOUSE IS FINE!!

I've been receiving emails, texts and phone calls since television news coverage began late this afternoon ... people hearing Toowoomba was flooding and just wanting to make sure we were OK. How very blessed we are to have such wonderful, caring family and friends all over Australia ... and overseas! :0) Thank you so much for your concern.

So ... what happened? Well ... unlike most  major centres (and quite a few minor ones!!) in Australia, Toowoomba is NOT built on or near a river, but a few creeks run through it and these have had culverts (big drain thingies for those needing technical terms!! Tee! Hee! Hee!) built around them to help direct the flow, stop erosion etc. After almost two days of torrential rain ... I was SOAKED just walking down five steps and two strides to the mail box!!! ... there was just so much water banking up and nowhere for it to go but up and over ... so that's what it did! It all happened so suddenly with no pre-warning, so people were caught unawares ... having lunch in a coffee shop, walking along the footpath, driving down the road, browsing through shops. There has been a LOT of damage to Toowoomba's CBD and apparently it came up into the pub on the corner a block and a half from us (glad I didn't know at the time!!) but our house is fine. The only flooding I saw first hand was the big drain in our street that wasn't living up to it's name, our footpath that the postie would have needed a canoe to negotiate today (yet he still managed to deliver the phone bill!! RATS!!) and an 'unofficial' second pond in the backyard at the lowerst point.

However, my Beloved Geek Boy saw the flooding much closer, as it came within half a block of where he works, so these are the pics he was emailing me ... yes, I DID freak out a little ... OK ... a LOT!! ... when I saw how close he was and unable to move due to road closures caused by flooding. He had to wait a few hours for the water to go down, but was home safe and sound not too much later than usual. OK ... here are some of the pics he sent me. Anyone who's been to Toowoomba will be shocked.

This is taken when GB stepped out his work door and looked down the hill. The water was about half way up the hill in this pic.

This one is taken from the roof of Grand Central shopping centre ... the building to the left in the photo above. The ground floors of this shopping centre experienced flooding. This pic is looking down into Dent Street closest to the bottom and Victoria Street on the top side. Straight ahead is Garden Town shopping centre and to the top right of the pic is the city library ... I don't think they'll be worried about overdue books for a few days!!! In the water, you can see a police officer keeping an eye on things and see vehicles that have been washed along by the water.

This is the corner of Margaret and Victoria Streets. A lot of vehicles were swept along here.

This is the entrance to the Grand Central car park in Margaret Street ... I think a BOAT would have been the preferred mode of transport at this point, though the water was moving so quickly that even THAT wouldn't have been a good idea. Somewhere under that water is Margaret Street, one of Toowoomba's busiest roads in the CBD!

This is looking along Dent and Victoria Streets, back towards Margaret Street ... the Maccas you can just see in the top left corner there is on Margaret Street. It gives an idea of just how much water we were dealing with. Something like 60mm, or around two and a half inches, of rain fell in about half an hour ... on top of previous heavy rain ... to cause the flash flood.

This is looking along those same streets back the other way ... this is at the end of the block where GB's work is ... he's up the top of the hill, this is at the bottom. We've seen a lot of other photos on Facebook that have just blown us away. One that really hit home was a furniture shop we visited on the weekend looking at couches ... we saw a photo of the couch we'd looked at floating down the flood water!!!

While we weren't affected by the flooding ... apart from being completely cobsmacked! ... seven people so far have been confirmed killed in this freak flood, several are still unaccounted for, hundreds of vehicles have been damaged in carparks or while being driven, and many businesses that have struggled to hold on through the down time of the drought in the region have now been inundated with flood water. It is certainly the beginning to a new year that we will all remember in Queensland and shows again that we're living in a country of extremes.

The only positive outcome of our very soggy situation is that our city's water storages are now at 100%+ after being down below 8% in August/September.

The rain that has caused our flash flooding has also fallen in other already-saturated areas of QLD, with Dalby once again bracing for record flood peaks, Gympie and Maryborough experiencing extreme flooding and towns like Esk, Laidley, Gatton, Withcott and Helidon being inundated by a brown ocean as the water runs down the range. There are many collection places for flood relief fund raising, so anything we can all chip in to help will be appreciated, I'm sure ... especially for those of us feeling pretty fortunate to be high and dry.

So ... a HUGE

THANK YOU!

... to all of you lovely family members, friends and blogging buddies who have contacted us in some way to check up on us. We're VERY soggy from so much rain, but safe and sound. And I'm now off to watch a bit of TV with my GB with a cuppa TEA! :0) Sorry ... lame rhyme!!! Must be all the rain getting to me! :0) Hope you're all safe, warm and dry wherever you are in the world right now. Back soon with some sewing pics ... I promice, Chookyblue!!! :0) Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS