Unbelievable

Hi everyone,most of you in various countries have seen pictures of the flood crisis in the Australian state of Queensland. I live in the S.east corner of the state and for the most part we have had an enormous amount of rain but have so far been lucky to have only minor flooding. That has changed in the last two days ,Nambour , where I live has had around 16 inches of rain in the last two days.It has fallen on already sodden ground and we are flooded. Even so our flood is minor ,the city of toowoomba which sits on top of a range behind our capital ,Brisbane ,received 4 inches in an hour. The local creeks have burst their banks and the main street has become the river. Cars by the dozens were swept away ,some full of people, there have been some miraculous rescues but the flood has fallen off the range and swept away whole communities. As I write the death toll stands at 8 with another 72 missing. The water is now heading toward Brisbane. It is supposed to be protected by the flood mitigating properties of Wivenhoe and Somerset dams on the Brisbane river,unfortunately both dams are at 150percent capacity and the flood gates are wide open to ensure the integrity of the dams. Brisbane is expecting it's first peak tomorrow and the authorities have ordered the evacuation of nearly 5000 properties and businesses. Two towns to the north ,gympie and Maryborough are mostly underwater and still the rain is falling. It may stop tomorrow afternoon .we are hoping. There you go Kathi and Mags I promised to keep you posted , I just wish it was better news. Ron.