Thankfully he had built his house well above the highest flood level recorded and his was the only house still above the flood water when it reached its peak.
Also my other relatives in QLD are all safe and only suffered minor damage to their homes.
Just some of the information coming out of QLD....
the main damn was only at 17% capacity after the drought and this week it reached a massive 190% capacity before they had to release some of the water from it.
So how does it get 190% you ask. Well optimum capacity is 100% but it reached a further 90% above optimum.
AMAZING!
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29648What wonderful news, know you've been quite concerned. Our prayers go out to your country and the people.
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4437I am so glad to hear this Meg. I have been keeping up with everything & it is so heartbreaking. Prayers are with this entire country & it's people/Lillian
145791Such good news! Thank you for keeping us up to date on this!
9983Wonderful news to hear everyone is safe and sound. Human life is precious. Material things can be replaced. I have been seeing photos of the damages and destruction in your country. It certainly has been devastation. I pray for all. Hugs, Mary
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11473Meganne, so glad your freinds are safe and sound. What a sad thing to see all the news on TV about this flood. Will continue to pray for everyone involved. God bless, Judy
10530Meg I am so pleased that your family is safe, so are mine, and thankfully me. I live in Queensland. To clarify the issue about the main damn, the main dam is south east Queensland is the wyvenhoe dam, in 1974 Brisbane was hit with devastating floods. I was 9 and thankfully our house did not get flooded, but I remember it clearly. The Wyvenhoe was built after the 1974 floods as a flood mitigation measure, the dam that supplied Brisbane's water at the time was the somerset dam. So over the last couple of years Brisbane has been in a drought, believe it or not. The mindset has been to save every drop of water. It would seem the short sighted politicians could not remember the 1974 floods and insisted that the Wyvenhoe dam should be full, it was never meant to be full. 100% of capacity is possibly where it should have been to accommodate the growing population, and the 200% is what was allowed for flood mitigation. This is of course bizzare because what on earth is 200%. anyway what we have is a dam that was not meant to supply water, but to prevent flood being allowed to get up to 100% in the first place then with our often incredible rainfall in the summer months becoming way to full and thus water having to be released from it into the river system, this along with the tides doing what they do has resulted in our capital city being flooded and shut down.
That is not even the worst part. when the floods hit Toowoomba, which is on a mountain, the water naturally went down the mountain into the valley below. this is the Lockyer Valley which we commonly refer to as the food basin. this is where all of our farmers live. we are now facing food shortages because crops have been destroyed and cattle have drowned.
this was way longer than I anticipated, but I hope it makes sense.
Alice.
2 comments
by shilly
13 Jan 2011
So good to hear some good news; have been watching on the newscasts. It is terrible when nature does such damage and even worse when compounded by peoples oversite,thank you for the information.
by meganne
13 Jan 2011
That explanation certainly helps to understand the whole situation better.
I remember our own Warragamba dam having water released during times of torrential rain and doing exactly the same thing here, causing massive flooding. Of course that was a long time ago and we haven't had the same kind of rain for decades now, but what will happen here if we do????
19430What good news for you ans your family, I hope our other cuties have good news as well, hugs Lisa.
1 comment
12843That's great news, Meganne! To know that must have lifted a weight of your shoulders!
145304Meganne, what great news, I am very pleased they are safe, its nice to get a happy bit of news. Helen
39739Thank God they are all o.k. Meg. My niece is in Newfarm and she had to go to a friend's place yesterday. I don't know her outcome as yet, but I am sure she will be o.k. The community spirit is alive and well. Love Chris
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by meganne
13 Jan 2011
Yes, my brother's friend/tenant Helen, had to evacuate and only went back yesterday, then they were evacuated again today as there is the threat of more flooding in Bundaburg.
HNR, M
by theduchess
13 Jan 2011
MEG, very glad to hear friends are alright.Last night our church said special prayers.Stella
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