I haven't written much over the past week, to be honest there isn't much to say and what there is to say has been summed up in perfect words by other bloggers around the country. Words that usually come so easily to me, have left me high and dry - much like my house (of which incidentally remained high and dry... my yard is a whole different story) we are feeling ever so very thankful and grateful and blessed. Unlike a lot of other fellow Queenslanders. Some have lost lives. Some have lost their houses. There is a huge cleanup ahead of them and it will take some years for life as we knew it to settle and resume it's normal pace. Many will never forget and I know I won't forget the horrors I witnessed on the news over the last week. My heart aches when I think of it and like everyone in Australia I am wishing that I could do something, anything to ease the burden on my fellow Queenslanders.
As I mentioned we weren't affected directly (but huge thanks to everyone who checked in either by email, Facebook or Texted us) I took the day off work on Monday due to our main road to the highway being under water. After hearing that our neighbour had made it to Brisbane that day for work (he works in the next suburb over) the guilt kicked in and I jumped up bright and early Tuesday to head into work. The main road was re-opened and I made record time. Just before lunch I jumped on facebook to see what was happening around the area and saw that our area was completely cut off (the main road went back under again) as well as the back 'detour' road and the other really long way was closed off too. I then heard that the next closest town were evacuating and then received a generic text telling everyone in our 'area' to seek higher ground. Stuck in Brisbane, with shitty phone services to my Husband who was currently on-route to pick up our daughter and knowing that many of my friends lived in the areas that were being evacuated had me panicking.
Luckily I had a lovely friend from work who offered to put me up for the night & thankfully I was able to get home at 9pm when the turn of the tides lowered the flooded highways to below bridge levels and I was able to scoot home (although our main road remained closed until later that night) it was scary. The drive home was scary as it was late, I was bone tired and there were police lining one of the major bridges both sides (I am assuming they were getting ready to close it when the river peaked once more) the detour road was covered in pot holes and I was exhausted by the time I finally got home.
Our back yard copped the extent of the flooding, we had a crisis on Monday morning where the water was not draining fast enough and it kept pooling up until it was lapping our back patio. Thankfully some trench digging on my husbands part managed to drain most of the water away and by Tuesday we had a "nearly" dry backyard. I left for work at 7am and DH sent me a photo at 8:30 where the water had pooled up so fast with the torrential down pour that it was now lapping the first back patio (still a couple of metres from the house, but far too close for comfort... I was texting him to get sandbags, but thankfully we didn't need those either) the yard is pretty much all mud and it took several days for the pools of water to finally soak into the ground.
Why am I even bothering to tell you all this, because you are right... in the bigger scheme of things this was NOTHING. I didn't have to walk away from my house knowing that everything in it would be ruined, smelly and muddy on my return. I had my family close (albeit after I did manage to get home on Tuesday) I was truly one of the lucky ones. Yet I was bloody scared. I don't feel that I should have the right to feel scared about something that didn't even really affect me. However that fear has illuminated for me just how terrified the people of Brisbane, Toowoomba, Dalby, Grantham, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Emerald, St George, Theodore, Kilcoy, Woodford, Esk, Goondiwindi, Ipswich, Gympie, Caboolture, Strathpine, Warwick and many more towns in between that have had to walk away from everything they own, must have been. Some towns barely rate a mention anymore, we have no idea how the clean up is going up north or out west nor do I have any idea if the waters finally receded in St George or Dalby. There is so many towns, so many people that have been affected with this natural disaster that one doesn't know where to start with help. Some of these towns had to evacuate for the 4th time in as many weeks as flood waters threatened their homes once more. One man had just finished cleaning up from the first hit of flooding and had to walk away only to come back and start over again.
It is incomprehensible. I had about 9 hours of isolation from home, my fears were mainly that I wasn't with my family when I most needed to be. These people have been days without their homes, their families. It is utterly heart breaking and I want to do something, but I don't know where to start? There are so many great bloggers out there, starting auctions, making Quilts for Queensland. Many fellow bloggers have auctions and raffles running on their blogs. Yet I have sat here undecided... what can I do as one person to help. I can't get to Brisbane with the clean up as I have been at home with my little one (as well work continues on merrily, you would NOT know that only 15 mins from my work place was under water... whole areas on the north were unaffected Work goes on as normal) I only live an hour north of the main flooding and I don't know where to start. Every report says they have been inundated with donations... yet I wonder if there really is too much or if there is just so much right now that they can't get through it and in weeks to come, people will be needing more. I have a cot here & lots of baby furniture that we don't need that I want to donate, but where do I take it to make sure it gets to someone who genuinely needs it?
At the end of the day I did what I do best - I pieced together a quilt top (still to be basted & quilted) Honestly - would you buy this? It's very basic, just a jelly roll from Spotlight pieced together in strips. Please, I would love a comment if you would consider buying it, if you are interested... I will put it live for auction tomorrow... otherwise I might send it along with Corrie's quilts for Queensland cause to be donated to someone in need.
