It's really shocking, but also heartwarming to see how people have pitched in to help - not surprising, and I still remember the chap who came out of nowhere to clean my gutters in the Canberra bushfires. It's a pretty useful national characteristic.

I was so impressed with the older lady who was interviewed leaving her inundated house, who said "Don't worry about us, it's neither here nor there - we're safe and there are people who are much worse off out there.'

And the other lady who managed to crack a smile, despite having lost everything, as she described a huge concrete tank taking out the pub, and saying the worst thing was that there was no cold beer.