Flood Waters Receeding

We are still safe as we are watching the waters slowly recede. Hopefully today, Friday, we can go out and see the world outside our building a little. Bob was told to continue to work from home on Friday and Monday as cleanup in the City Business District (CBD) will take some time.

The flood waters that hit us were not the waters from the north that we heard about before arriving but from the west. In Toowoomba which is west of Brisbane they had what is described as a freak storm that produced a wall of water (some are calling it an inland tsunami)which rushed through and continued on down the valley toward Ipswich and Brisbane. The damn that was built after the 1974 flood was 140% capacity and they had to open the gates to release the waters. We were told that water was the amount equivalent to the water in Sydney Harbor. Thankfully the water levels were less than were predicted.  The latest we heard was the river peaked at 4.5 meters (12-13 ft) instead of the 5.5 estimation.

It has been so sad to watch on television the devastation of people’s homes and lives. Some towns west of here just recovered from a post Christmas flood to experience flooding all over again. Roads are still closed and some supplies are hard to get to the people.

While we may not be able to experience and visit some of the places we would like, we are so thankful that we are safe and well and together. Please continue to pray for Queensland and the people here as they continue to recover from this devastating event.

Pontoon decking that broke loose from its mooring,
dozens of these went by.
They say the bay looks like a junk yard.

One of the many unmanned boats we saw float by.
Another boat slowly sank as it went down the river.



Hanging Out On the 18th Floor

1/11/11

We should have known we were in for an unusual day. While on the patio early in the morning, I noticed that even though we were up before 6am, the ferries weren’t running. When I checked online, they said they were not running today as the river current was strong.

Bob went off to work in the rain, walking on the river walk below. Because of the heavy rain, I decided to stay in for the morning and do some ironing. Later we heard the flood waters were heading to Brisbane. Bob was released from work around 2pm and had to find a different way home as part of the river walk was already under water. We went off to the grocery store to pick up more food.  The store was crowded, but friendly and we waited in line for 40 minutes to check out.  We arrived home, assured we would be okay. We settled in and would go out on the patio to watch the debris float by. After the tide, the waters receded and the river walk was opened again.

We received an email from our new church friends and Bob received calls, from the two companies he is here working with, checking up on us.

City Ferry dock across the river

1/12/11

We woke to a beautiful day of sunshine and blue sky. You could see the water level was back up. Bob worked from home and we would watch the activity on the river; lots of debris going down the river as well as Coast Guard, police and helicopters as the waters rose slowly through the day.

We kept informed of the situation and our computers and Bob’s phone charged in case of power shutdown. The electrical system is in the basement of these high-rise buildings and power had been turned off to the downtown buildings and to the building next to us, but ours has remained on. (The building next to us had power restored later in the afternoon)

We weren’t sure how much was being forecast in the states, so we thought we should inform you all that although there was flooding in Brisbane, we were safe and doing fine. 

River walk

 

1/13/11

Another beautiful day of sunshine and praise God, the water levels were not as high (3 ft lower) than predicted this morning and should start receding today.  It will take several days for it to recede completely. We still have power, but the lifts (elevators) have been shut down due to water in the fourth level of the basement. Although there is much ahead as far as cleanup around the city, there is a great sense of relief that the waters will not exceed the flood of 1974 as earlier feared.

So we are here on the 18^th floor for at least another day. Not that there is many places to go as the ferries, buses and trains are shut down.

We praise God that we are safe. Please keep the state of Queensland in your prayers!

P.S. As I was posting an announcement was made that as long as the basement water doesn't get any higher, the elevators will be back in service at 7am Friday!


Looking toward the CBD
(City Business District)

 

Grocery Shopping

We have been here six days and have been to the grocery store four times. It sure is different when you have to carry your groceries home and up to your apartment while also holding on to an umbrella. On the third trip to the store we were in line behind a couple who had a nice little wheeled cart for their groceries. So Bob politely asked them where they purchased it. Later that afternoon we went down to the Big W and purchased our cart. It wheels easily and came in handy the last time we went for groceries. We were able to purchase more than our two-four bags of groceries and are set for a few days.



Woolworths is our grocery store. You can go up the
steps to the right or up around the walk on the right.
(I think you can click on picture to make it larger to see)



Our grocery trolley.



As far as food items, as you can see some packages are the same, some look the same but with different names, and some things are completely different. So far we have purchased pretty basic supplies and have found everything we need. Prices are a little higher here, probably due to the fact that they have to import most of it.

Happy grocery shopping!

Rainy Days and Mondays*

Today I stayed in the apartment while Bob was at work. It’s not that I didn’t want to go out by myself, we had some issues in the apartment that needed to be addressed and I had to wait for the maintenance man to come.  I’m kind of glad for the rain today. It would be awfully hard to sit inside while it was a beautiful sunny day. It’s a perfect time to do laundry and a little cleaning. We have kept the place picked up, but with coming and going we have brought some dirt in and a little vacuuming and laundry is needed. So I thought today I could tell you a little more about our building.

We have a fitness room that we hope to start using this evening when Bob gets home. There is also a small sauna room in the fitness center.  I’m not sure I’ll check that out, I always have difficulty breathing when in one and after sweating through a workout who wants to sweat more. I’d rather enjoy….

the outdoor pool. Saturday evening we thought a swim and a soak in the hot tub sounded nice. After swimming several laps, it was nice sitting in the hot tub and enjoying the view of the skyline. I’m not rubbing it in, just trying to send thoughts of warmer days your way!

Off the lobby is a small reading nook with a few shelves of books. There is also a deck area with a grill that any resident may use as long as they clean up after themselves.

I want to say thanks to all those who have posted comments and sent emails about my blog. I love hearing from you. It’s great to know people are checking up on us and enjoying our experiences along with us.

Thanks for reading!

(*a 1970’s Carpenter’s song title)

Sunday with no sun, but plenty of Son!

How great to be able to go to the other side of the world and find fellow believers to worship with. We had a wonderful time at the Salvation Army church. We were greeted warmly and the worship was great as well as the sermon entitled "The Greatest Form of Flattery" based on Ephesians 5:1-2 being imitators of Christ. I was even invited to a ladies get together in February.

After church we had a fellowship time downstairs with tea and biscuits (cookies), and yes Bob was able to get his coffee even though it was instant. The couple who greeted us offered to drop us off at our building. They kept saying how they don’t usually have so much rain and they are coming off a 5-6 year drought, but Bob had to keep teasing them they he didn’t believe them or their license plate  “Queensland-Sunshine State” as he hasn’t seen much sun the many times he has been over here. To ease everyone’s minds, we learned today that the worst of the flooding is 600km (373 miles) to the north of us.

Of course, it didn’t rain on the way home and even as we were having lunch and watching the Colts/Jets game it looked like it was trying to brighten up. But it has been pouring for a couple of hours now, sometimes so much we can’t see across the river. 

So even though we didn’t see the sun today, we most definitely experienced the SON!