...of 3, is currently on hold.
as most of you are aware, there's been a bit of weather hitting Queensland recently. At it's worst, there was over 75% of the state classified as as a state of emergency (that's a land area bigger than france and germany combined)
With heavy rains, a king tide; dams already at 100% capacity, and flash flooding to the west (killing 13 people); my home city of Brisbane was in-line to receive it's worst flooding in over 35 years.
Thankfully the peak never exceeded levels reached in 1974 when vast sections of the city remained underwater for quite some time. Sadly, in the intervening 36+ years, many of the low-laying areas have had an increase in housing density - as people scrambled to get their own piece of Brisbane real-estate.
As I write this - the river is receding; there are large sections of the city covered in a slimy mud/silt, and thousands of people are taking stock of what needs to be done to bring their lives back to normal.
Volunteer levels are massive, people are being turned away as there are too many offering assistance. So the City-Council is co-ordinating volunteer marshaling areas; you can easily park at a distance from the affected areas, and they'll provide free transport to areas where the help is most needed.
They are asking for people to look after all their own personal protection (boots/pants/water/etc) and tools (brooms/shovels)
More information can be found on the council web-site. http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/
all friends and family that I've been in contact with are safe and dry.
below are some photos that I took a few days ago.
Firstly, some context.
There have been calls for people to stay at home, and leave the roads free in affected areas for emergency vehicles and essential travel only.
I leave for an overseas trip in 4 days, and had to pick-up some gear (ski pants) down the gold coast.
after selecting an interesting route (avoiding road closures, and getting in the way of any affected areas) I headed down and collected my ski gear.
on my way back from the coast - I stopped in at a friends house to whup his ass at backgammon, and check-in on his flood-affected guests. all good there, so on the way home, I dropped in at work (SBAC) to check on any damage to the building and offer some help if needed.
thankfully the waters never reached the building, peaking about a hundred meters down the hill. After taking a little tour under the bridge, I headed down to the park at kangaroo point for a safe view of the still rushing river.
view from just under the road-deck of the story bridge.
interesting logo in the parkland
the waters had already dropped half a meter from it's peak earlier in the morning
looking across the river
people checking out the river from the safety of kangaroo point
this bench sits a few meters back from the bike path, which is usually 2+m higher than the high tide.
detail of the bench
random person looks out at the river
what can you say about a street-sign under water?
yes I can see a problem, somehow - I think they've already got it as under control as they can...
waters already receding
Sand-bagging all over the city, some of it successful, some not so much, and thankfully, some (like these) not needed.
nothing like a break in the clouds after a massive rain/flood to bring out all the photographers (I know, I was one too)
stairs normally run down to a small beach
*here's a shot of the stairs only one day later
people look out at the city from the cliff-top at fortitude valley
construction site next to the river...
this used to be a floating walk/bike-way. during the flood a massive 300m long section snapped off it's moorings and nearly smashed into the gateway bridge...
all local stations had at least one chopper in the air - some channels even had two...
The temporary news centre at the top of the kangaroo point cliffs
capsized boat at kangaroo point
where there are people, there's a need for snacks...
unfortunate signage
swings
water-front...
not a good place to park
as a quick comparison, I went to work 24 hrs later, here's how much it'd dropped.
photo from the previous day
What else to say.
I depart for Zurich (via a singapore re-fuel and dubai transfer) on thursday night.
Before then - I've got another 2 bridge climbs, and one of those is a photo climb (on the evening of my departure) - so we'll see if I can get a few quick shots up here before my flight.
see ya
Ian
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