brisbane flood

I don’t know about you guys, but coming from safe and sunny Singapore, I never thought I would be embroiled in a natural disaster issue. I always thought I would be safe and have a carefree life (at least when it comes to the weather and environment; minus global warming that is). But alas, here I am, moved to Brisbane, and currently in the midst of a flood disaster. Thus far, 10 people have died (mostly children and women), and about 78 (including whole families) were unaccounted for. There was even what they called an "inland tsunami” (a.k.a. flash flood), which swept through a town (Toowomba), devastating everything in its path. I saw pictures of sofas and carpets floating in the waters out in the open.

I truly hope that this flood thing would pass real soon. And I certainly pray that my house will be spared. At the moment, it doesn’t look too promising though. (See pictures below.) The only consolation is that I live on the second floor. But still. I heard that flood waters will reach a maximum of 5m to 8m high. Dammit! My room is such a goner!

At the moment, I am safe and sound. That is what counts. I am stuck in my friend’s apartment (5 levels up) till the flood waters recede.

Never in my life did I think that I would have left my professional portfolio behind. It had always been my number one priority; or at least my top 3, after my passport and laptop (plus portable hard drives). How stupid of me? All my valuable testimonials from various people and organizations would be gone! The exact same thought that came up in my head when my house was broken into and my laptop and portable hard drive was stolen a while ago: “If only I had stayed on in safe and sunny Singapore”. I think chances of these things happening to me in Singapore would be close to 0%. Oh well… What’s more important is to learn through experience, and experience the experience. Make sense? Haha… Nevermind.

Alright, flood damage pictures as of 11th January 2011.

What a great start to a great year.
FML…

Pictures pictures pictures... Please bear with me, as I took these pictures in a panic, and of course, with my mobile phone.

My House & Street...

My stairway out of the house...

Look at my housemate's cars... Gone! On the right, there is a road sign, just indicates how high the flood water had grown.

My Street... If I hadn't told you this was a street, would you have thought this was a river instead?

Our Hero... Bruneian, Andrian, with his personal motorboat helping us out and evacuating us from the house. He was ferrying us back and forth, to salvage some of our important stuff. He even gave me his number, just in case I needed more help retrieving stuff. Mind you guys, prior to this, we were total strangers. How nice eh???

P/S: The constant war time siren gives me the jitters. And the constant sound of the helicopter flying around makes me think that I am in a war zone or something. Dare I say it's almost like some of the zombie movies i have watched.

P / P / S: Thanks for all the concerned calls and smses. I am safe and fine, for now at least. Haven't had the need to sit on my roof yet. Huge gratitude to those who offered me (and any other strangers) a place to live in. Especially if you are a complete stranger prior to this. That is an extremely selfless gesture. My sincere thanks to these people.