Rain In Queensland

[JAX]

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I hope our K9 friends in Queensland esp Lana are Ok , any body know ?

 

[aslan]

Cristina in Townsville is fine, so am I, just very very wet. There were floods further north earlier and now the floods are in Rockhampton (4 hrs south of Mackay where I am) and in Emerald (4hrs west of Rockhampton) and then more further south (Bundaberg) and inland again from there. I think the news said 40% of Queensland was under water - and Queensland is a very large state so that's a lot of land, crops, homes and businesses ruined.

This is very unusual weather for us here in the North. We are tropical, and therefore supposed to have a wet season - usually from late December through til Feb/March and often that's the cyclone season as well. However it has been raining here in Mackay since October and very very few fine days in between. Add to that, that we had been in drought for a long time prior to the floods we had in Mackay last year - so all this water takes a bit of getting used to.

Out west whole small towns have been evacuated and Emerald and Rockhampton are saying this is the worst flooding for many many years.

 

[Mychaka]

We're doing good so far here in Townsville, like Lana in Mackay - flooding seems to be around us most of the time, north to Cairns flooded before Xmas stranding a lot of people on the highway or in Townsville and then rivers going up and down to the south through to Mackay. A lot of them are tidal so low lying area's are more affected. Now the major flooding is around Rockhampton to Bundaberg and inland which is about a 8-9 hour drive for me from Townsville. I have had numerous emails checking on us which is much appreciated, the dogs are just bored, (would help if they liked getting their feet wet

Like Lana said this is surpose to be the start of our rainy season but it's being going for awhile now, so guess we just have to expect more of it, just crossing fingers no big cyclone's. :unsure:

Cheers

Cristina

 

[aslan]

Fingers and toes and everything else crossed for no cyclones - as the weather bureau predicted we would see 6 cyclones this season!!! :sweating:

 

[JAX]

Thanks for that < I know on the UK news it said that land the size of France was under water , We in the UK , well me anyhow , how no idea of the size of Australia really :teehee:

 

[whippetfan]

Everyone still above water up there? The flooding is gobsmackingly widespread :unsure:

 

[aslan]

Thanks for that < I know on the UK news it said that land the size of France was under water , We in the UK , well me anyhow , how no idea of the size of Australia really :teehee:

Queensland has a land area of 1,727,200 sq km

France has a total area of approximately 547,030 kilometres squared

So France fits into Qld about 3.14 times

The British Isles has a land area of 243,694 sq km

The British Isles fit into Queensland about 7.1 times

there's a google map http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&...mp;source=embed that shows the flood affected towns of Qld - you may have to zoom out a bit to see the whole state and get it in perspective.

 

[quintessence]

Glad to hear you are ok, I was watching the news last night and it really is devastating. Hopefully you won't get the cyclones Lana.

Jenny

 

[Tiger Lily]

Been following your 'weather' on the news. Glad you are all ok out there! Bet it makes dog walking difficult lol :thumbsup:

 

[aslan]

I don't have to take mine out anywhere to walk them, my yard is big enough for them to burl around at 100mph in, but of course it's been a quagmire for weeks/months on end - so they have to be hosed off and dried everytime before they come back inside and the puppy girls have to have a complete bath because they are just dripping mud from top to toe. So it has been a work intensive couple of months - the washing machine and drier have been going non-stop - and now the heat has set in (the last couple of days we've had a few bouts of sunshine) and it's too hot to put the drier on - even late at night. So you hang the towels out in the morning and hope that you can get them dry before the next lot of rain comes - usually every afternoon in the form of a storm .

But I dare not complain ... there are about 200,000 people who've lost everything they own.

I have heard of one dog person who lost a litter of pups the water rose so fast in the middle of the night, and another who had to wade waist high through water at 2am to save his dogs, some of whom only had their heads above water.

 

[JAX]

I don't have to take mine out anywhere to walk them, my yard is big enough for them to burl around at 100mph in, but of course it's been a quagmire for weeks/months on end - so they have to be hosed off and dried everytime before they come back inside and the puppy girls have to have a complete bath because they are just dripping mud from top to toe. So it has been a work intensive couple of months - the washing machine and drier have been going non-stop - and now the heat has set in (the last couple of days we've had a few bouts of sunshine) and it's too hot to put the drier on - even late at night. So you hang the towels out in the morning and hope that you can get them dry before the next lot of rain comes - usually every afternoon in the form of a storm .But I dare not complain ... there are about 200,000 people who've lost everything they own.

I have heard of one dog person who lost a litter of pups the water rose so fast in the middle of the night, and another who had to wade waist high through water at 2am to save his dogs, some of whom only had their heads above water.

How terrible Lana, thats what I was worried about with you . AS some folk on here know I live at the top of quite a steep Crescent and have views overlooking a valley/river . and how ever much it rains we will never be under water , but flood water could come down the hill as some houses are higher than us.

 

[aslan]

I don't know if it's making your news over there but the flash flood that hit the western city of Toowoomba yesterday was something we've never seen before in Queensland. Some people have described it as an inland Tsunami. An absolute freak of nature that no-one could have predicted. So fast and no warning. 10 people are dead and 78 are missing. Watching it on tv is just like what we saw in Phuket on Boxing Day 2004.

A wall of water tore through the city taking everything in its way with it. People, cars, water tanks, sheds ....

There are a LOT of dog show people who live in the Lockyer Valley - I've not yet heard of how anyone out there has fared with their dogs. People who are being rescued from rooftops etc are not allowed to take their pets with them.

I cannot contemplate being rescued and having to be winched away from my dogs.

That water is now headed through the Lockyer Valley and is being joined by water from Wivenhoe Dam - which must be released at regular intervals because the dam is at 174% capacity. Whilst the water will pan out and not be as concentrated and have such force as what tore through Toowoomba, Brisbane (our capital city) and Ipswich (the city of the highest population growth in recent times) are about to be flooded at levels which will exceed the devastation of the 1974 floods. 1974 info here

Over 6000 homes are expected to be affected.

Some places in south-east and south-west Qld were yesterday receiving 150mm of rain EVERY HOUR. On top of the already saturated ground and the creeks and rivers at their peaks - the south east corner of our state is now headed for devastation. As if the rest of our state has not already suffered enough.

75% of Queensland is now declared flood affected.

 

[quintessence]

Yes it is making our news Lana, it's just so devastating for everyone. I haven't seen the TV news yet today but have the radio on all the time and they have been reporting on the dead and missing. We are all thinking of you and your fellow Queenslanders Lana.

Jenny

 

[JAX]

how horrid Lana,

it reallly dosnt bare thinking about having to leave you pets behind . I really dont think I could

keep us informed how you are and if you have any news wont you .

 

[rls22]

I've just watched the news and the footage is absolutely terrifying; the speed the water is travelling and rising at is unbelievable.

I hope you all stay safe.

 

[aslan]

the Brisbane River peak will be tomorrow at 4am.

20,000 homes and businesses are now predicted to be affected.

8 people were rescued off rooftops in Lowood in the Lockyer Valley early this morning.

It is the only thing on tv today here - with constant news updates and press conferences with Qld's Premier and Aust's Prime Minister.

The images we saw yesterday of the family of three on top of their car - who could not be rescued by the news helicopter - and were gone by the time the rescue chopper got there - they have found the mother and child safe - but the father is still missing.

 

[wild whippies]

So sad.

Heard the news and wondered about you Lana. Hope you and other K9er's stay safe. :luck:

Take care x

 

[aslan]

We are about 1200kms north of Brisbane and well out of harm's way now - as long as we don't get a cyclone on top of all the rain we've had up here in the last three months.

We now are receiving reports that towns along the Clarence River in northern NSW are now flooding.

And northern Victoria is now expecting an extreme rain event with flash flooding forecast. I hope the people in the prospective areas are getting gone already.

That will be five of our 6 states battling water - and Perth in WA has been battling fires. It's just doing my head in. Other states (and NZ too) sent emergency services to help us - now they're going to be needed back home and our lot won't be able to help them, because they'll still be dealing with what's going on here.

 

[JAX]

Terrible news Lana ,

 

[aslan]

A little reprieve in that the levels didn't peak at the predicted height, about a metre less. A metre doesn't sound like much but this will mean that many homes, that were expected to be inundated won't have got water above their flooboards.

A huge section of what they call the "floating walkway" in Brisbane broke free early this morning - concrete and steel, 400m long and weighing 300tons. A tug boat operator heard the news on his radio at about 4am and together with his engineer raced to his boat and in a very intricate operation in a very fast moving river, turned the pathway around and guided it through the pylons of the Gateway Bridge so no damage was caused.