It's still flooding ...
Jan. 12th, 2011 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blamebramptonMy friend ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
i_autumnheart is in a safe spot in Queensland, and doubtless doing dozens of useful things, because she is terrific and like that. One of them is this map:
You can see the size of Australia compared to the continental USA. The dark blue line is the normal monsoon zone. The blue and pale blue lines were the original estimates of the flooded and flood-affected (cut off as well as largely underwater) areas, the purple and magenta lines are autumn's updated areas as of this afternoon. The flood-affected area in Queensland alone is already significantly bigger than the state of Texas, the flooded area larger than California. (If you can only think in terms of Europe, check out this link for comparative sizes.) Thanks,anthraxia , for the original link.
Careful viewers will notice there are two other major floods in the country at the moment. If you look down to the bottom left and find Perth, a bit below LA, there is a massive fire near there that has only just been brought under control.
The upside of living in a country of such madness is that people are generally great. It's not just the former Prime Minister, many people have been fabulous with supermarkets giving away stock to local people and strangers continuing to form human chains to help people rescue possessions and stock. The RSPCA put out an alert because they were unable to cope and within two hours people had stepped forward to foster all the excess animals at that time. People who were evac-ing an old caretaker in Brisbane took his budgerigars away in their pockets because he did not have a portable cage -- a whole new dimension to budgie smuggling.
The death-toll from the flash-flooding has risen to 12, but in good news the missing are now down to 48, though with grave fears held for 9 of them, as the news phrase has it. The expected peak has been revised down, which has meant that only 3000-odd homes in Ipswich were inundated rather than 4000. Things are still getting deeper in Brisbane, and will for at least another day.
And yes, there are still snakes in the water, and crocodiles, and now at least one shark.
One of my girlfriends was teasing me because I told her to fill her saucepans with water while they still have guaranteed potable water, but in all seriousness, it's the major difference between getting through the aftermath of a natural disaster with ease and with great annoyance. No one likes having to queue for water! Fingers crossed the desalination plant will mean that most of Brisbane can keep drinking from the tap. Sadly, in some rural areas, it's a 3 minute boil for anything from the tap.
Meanwhile, for you lot up north with friends who have lost goods, a few helpful links:
Fairfax story on dealing with water-damaged electronics drbunsen , who is a real-life techie rather than a journo playing one on the internet, says that you'd be better off following this advice. He's probably right, I only know about paper and textiles!
Good page on dealing with water-damaged documents
And for precious garments and textiles, a conservator's guide that contains many things the layperson can do
i_autumnheart is in a safe spot in Queensland, and doubtless doing dozens of useful things, because she is terrific and like that. One of them is this map: You can see the size of Australia compared to the continental USA. The dark blue line is the normal monsoon zone. The blue and pale blue lines were the original estimates of the flooded and flood-affected (cut off as well as largely underwater) areas, the purple and magenta lines are autumn's updated areas as of this afternoon. The flood-affected area in Queensland alone is already significantly bigger than the state of Texas, the flooded area larger than California. (If you can only think in terms of Europe, check out this link for comparative sizes.) Thanks,
anthraxia , for the original link.Careful viewers will notice there are two other major floods in the country at the moment. If you look down to the bottom left and find Perth, a bit below LA, there is a massive fire near there that has only just been brought under control.
The upside of living in a country of such madness is that people are generally great. It's not just the former Prime Minister, many people have been fabulous with supermarkets giving away stock to local people and strangers continuing to form human chains to help people rescue possessions and stock. The RSPCA put out an alert because they were unable to cope and within two hours people had stepped forward to foster all the excess animals at that time. People who were evac-ing an old caretaker in Brisbane took his budgerigars away in their pockets because he did not have a portable cage -- a whole new dimension to budgie smuggling.
The death-toll from the flash-flooding has risen to 12, but in good news the missing are now down to 48, though with grave fears held for 9 of them, as the news phrase has it. The expected peak has been revised down, which has meant that only 3000-odd homes in Ipswich were inundated rather than 4000. Things are still getting deeper in Brisbane, and will for at least another day.
And yes, there are still snakes in the water, and crocodiles, and now at least one shark.
One of my girlfriends was teasing me because I told her to fill her saucepans with water while they still have guaranteed potable water, but in all seriousness, it's the major difference between getting through the aftermath of a natural disaster with ease and with great annoyance. No one likes having to queue for water! Fingers crossed the desalination plant will mean that most of Brisbane can keep drinking from the tap. Sadly, in some rural areas, it's a 3 minute boil for anything from the tap.
Meanwhile, for you lot up north with friends who have lost goods, a few helpful links:
drbunsen , who is a real-life techie rather than a journo playing one on the internet, says that you'd be better off following this advice. He's probably right, I only know about paper and textiles! Good page on dealing with water-damaged documents
And for precious garments and textiles, a conservator's guide that contains many things the layperson can do
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2011-01-12 12:54 pm (UTC)But I'm so glad people are coming together. Always grateful when that happens.
I'm glad your friend is safe! ♥
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 01:08 pm (UTC)That shark was spotted swimming past where I work (well used to work)
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 01:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 01:16 pm (UTC)There was one shot of the Premier with the PM standing behind her and I wanted to print it out and give a framed copy to every girl in Australia for inspiration.
Ha! Budgie smuggling! Tabbott will be upset that some other bugger's budgies have knocked his out of the news.
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:30 pm (UTC)Where is Tabbott? Surely he could be in there with his muscles and kayak? If KRudd can do some heavy lifting, why not his Buffness?
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Date: 2011-01-12 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 03:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 08:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 03:25 pm (UTC)I do agree that Bligh has done a marvellous job, both in getting messages across and in keeping the media away from the frontline operations people, which is exactly what politicians are *for* in emergencies.
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Date: 2011-01-12 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 02:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 03:07 pm (UTC)@And yes, there are still snakes in the water, and crocodiles, and now at least one shark.
You live in a dangerous country.
It's really awful what happens there at the moment. I feel sorry for all those people who lost everything.
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:10 pm (UTC)And yes, it's just dreadful. The loss of life is bad enough, but there are then thousands more who have lost their livelihoods.
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:21 pm (UTC)The northern half of the state is cut off from road and rail, but the airports are open, and as long as the cyclones hold off for a little longer, then there is access by sea to almost all the major cities anyway. So it could be much worse up there. Poor Condamine and Chinchilla, though... maybe they should switch to rice for the summer.
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:25 pm (UTC)This brought tears to my eyes. It's strange how disasters always bring out the best in people...
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:31 pm (UTC)My heart goes out to all of you. And yeah, I agree that it's not a bad idea to have a pot or two of water on hand. Fingers crossed that things get better soon.
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Date: 2011-01-12 03:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 04:56 pm (UTC)I think it takes more perseverance and bravery to recover in the aftermath (and it's often not shown on TV because it's less sensational), and I hope the worst is over.
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Date: 2011-01-12 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 06:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-12 06:12 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-01-12 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 02:46 am (UTC)Bless you for your birthday wishes yesterday, btw. I have decided to schedule my b'day for a new time, since for the past week I appear to have become an animagus snot machine.
A couple of tips from our flood: first, water is ESSENTIAL. Besides potable water, they'lll need it for flushing the toilet and what washing can be done. We hooked up a rainbarrel to get toilet water, etc but our flood came from the rainiest month evah, and don't know if that's the issue there. Also let my little truck have a plastic lining and half filled with water, for bathing. At night, in the dark, obviously.
Second, I dropped an open bottle of water in my purse, and it soaked everything, including my camera, which is not water proof. The camera guy who sold it to me told me later (it resisted the wet) that the best way to dry very small electronics safely for them and you is to pack it in rice, and leave it for a few days. Makes sense -- salt shakers in restaurants, when I was a little girl (before they started putting poisons in the salt to make it not clump) always had a few rice grains in them to keep the salt free-flowing by sucking out the water. another friend who is a puter programmer and whose husband assembles hard drives and such, said "Didn't you know that?" I didn't, so I pass it on fwiw.
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Date: 2011-01-13 09:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 08:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 06:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-13 11:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-01-14 02:39 am (UTC)Aquatic snakes?!
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Date: 2011-01-15 01:19 pm (UTC)