Sad that my very first post has to be about the devastation in Queensland Australia at the current moment.
If you have not watched much news. you may not be aware of what’s going on, but major portions of Queensland are under flood.
I have family in Queensland. as far as I know they are all safe. although I haven’t been able to contact my sister. she is in a safe area and her house is on a small hill safe from flood waters and land subsidence. I am assuming the reason for no contact is the loss of communications. (Update: Sis is fine problem was miscommunication not lack of communication).
So far 10 people are confirmed dead, but a lot more are expected.
As far as scale the loss of life will be minor compared to other disasters such as the Victorian fires, but it makes this disaster no less overwhelming.
The saddest aspect of this apart from the obvious loss of life is reading some peoples comments in various newspaper comment sections. I cannot believe people who call themselves Australian could possibly utter such words. Australia was built on mate ship and giving a helping hand. To those people who feel that way Please feel free to return to your country of origin. and if indeed you were born in Australia you should hang your heads in the deepest shame. you are not fit to be called Australian.
Some images…
From a financial point of view this will impact Australia and the world for months, possibly years to come.
To give you an idea of the magnitude of what’s going on
1,000,000: The area in square kilometres (approximately) affected by the flooding. That’s larger than France and Germany combined and 10 per cent larger than British Columbia.
200,000: The number of people affected by the floods.
10 million: The number in tonnes of the country’s wheat crop that has been downgraded to less than milling quality because of rain damage. That’s equal to half the country’s wheat crop.
343: The number of millimetres of rain that hit some areas of Queensland in a 24-hour period ending Jan. 10, 2011.
150: The number of millimetres of rain that fell in half an hour near the city of Toowoomba on Monday.
10: The number of people killed during a flash flood that followed that deluge of rainfall. A day later, 78 more people were still listed as missing.
22: The number of towns or cities that are either substantially flooded or isolated.
45: The percentage increase in the global grain prices because of the flood damage to Australia’s wheat crop.
30: The percentage by which food prices in Australia could rise, according to investment bank JP Morgan.
20: The percentage of all crops in Queensland that have been wiped out by the floods.
$10 billion: Estimated damage caused by the floods — so far.