Australia floods: a diary of disaster
After a day which quickly developed into disaster for people in Queensland, Pete Docherty – originally from Perthshire in Scotland – writes for Channel 4 News about the flood crisis in Australia.
A perfectly normal day for south east Queensland developed into a nightmare in just a few hours – it was insane.
I stay about an hour north of Brisbane in Buderim on the sunshine coast.
I woke up on at 6am with one hell of a storm in place on our hill.
I listened to the radio in the shower and there was mention of some storms and potentially localised flooding on the coast – nothing unusual as the weather has been horrendous last few months.
I was due to commute to Caboolture, north Brisbane for work. Anyway I went to the front door to see if I needed to wear flip flops to leave the house or work shoes as it can be muddy.
(A garden in Queensland before and after the floods – sent via Twitter)
All looked OK so went back to change, came back a few minutes later to see whole front path submerged, which I hadn’t seen happen that quickly before.
I stood in awe as I watched the water rising, you could actually see it rise – incredible!
Within minutes the house was close to flooding and we live on a hill!
I quickly grabbed a shovel and mattock and dug a drainage trench from the front of the house to the side of the property which helped.
I had to spend two hours maintaining and making it deeper due to the heavy downpour, which was unrelenting.
Some water started coming through some light fittings in the house and the situation was starting to get concerning.
It was pretty extraordinary, especially after Toowoomba the day before and I sat down and turned on the TV and radio to see if there was any news.
I watched in amazement and horror as the situation played out.
It was incredible. The situation was changing by the minute – predictions being made, then being revised; evacuation notices being made then cancelled because it was too late just minutes later; highways being cut-off!
Caboolture, where I was supposed to be working, was issued with an evacuation order by the police and then minutes later it was retracted and a statement issued saying get to high ground immediately.
I watched in amazement and horror as the situation played out. It was incredible. The situation was changing by the minute.
It was pretty frightening and I got in touch with colleagues down there – a few were marooned in a local hotel overnight but everyone was OK.
Anyway, it all played out and the only thing I can liken it to would be September 11 – not the loss of life but just a massive situation playing out and not knowing what was going to happen next and how bad it was going to get, as it just seemed to be going downhill very quickly.
We were cut-off on our little hill with local roads flooded or blocked by landslides.
We just sat at home and watched and heard on the radio that local shops and markets were being emptied by panic buying, it was incredible.
(The Brisbane River is expected to reach its peak on Wednesday evening.)
We are now watching the city flood and keeping in touch with friends and relatives who are preparing and evacuating their homes to move to higher ground and stay with other friends and relatives.
We have offered our spare beds to anyone who needs a bed – I sent an email to everyone in my Brisbane based company.
It’s amazing seeing everyone pitch in, trying to help strangers.
Everyone else who has rooms or can assist in moving is firing out group emails.
It’s amazing seeing everyone pitch in, trying to help strangers.
Mel (my wife) and I are contemplating heading to Brisbane at the weekend to assist in the clean-up, as long as we don’t get in the way or are advised otherwise by government or police.
The state government have been incredible in managing the whole thing especially considering 75 per cent of the state is a disaster zone.
Tomorrow is my 1st year anniversary of being in Oz and it’s a shame to see the place in such a state.
I wish there was more we could do.
A lot of people have been affected and infrastructure and local business will be affected for months, as well as tourism, the job market, and farming – you name it, they are all in trouble.