Our Australian Friends Could Use Our Help

[Squidwogdog]

This is really good to see.

I am lucky enough to be out of the danger zone, but I have a lot of friends and family who were affected.

I got out an hour before that happened, I half wish I was around to see it first hand.

 

[Reeves88]

lucky for me the floods missed me and my family but if i drive 15 mins down the road i would be under water its so sureal

I wonder; Where did all the water come from? Suddenly I woke up, and about half of Australia was halfway to joining the atlantis neighbourhood..

it came because it built up in mountain areas as we had 1 week of solid rain, a 8 meter tall wall of water then hit toowoomba and its neibouring suburbs some towns not getting any warning at all (which people now call the inland tsunami), i know one towns has been completly destroyed not a single house remains, that water then went into the brisbane river which snakes its way through brisbane so it just flooded everything tearing free boats, moarings, jettys and 300 meters of the river side walk (the 300 meters was in one large lump when it tore free), the flood also shut down all of brisbane and its nearby suburbs sewage plants so all the sewage in the area is just being pumped into the river (so its not just mud covering everything) to add insult to injury the main water dam was sitting at 90% full before the raining started and during the floods went up to 190% so they have had to empty an amount of water which would have sustained brisbane for five years in 3 days.

 

[snide_cake]

we are having quite bad weather at the moment down here. i think the only state without some form of flooding is WA, and they just had a bush fire.

Although WA did have bushfires, there was also flooding in Carnarvon around Christmas time.

Satellite picture of the flooding [http://www.landgate.wa.gov.au/docvault.nsf/77f520260edb277b48256d4f001513c2/28ea217c645ae2ecc8257803000d6b1b/$FILE/CARNARVON22122010.jpg]

And Perth is practically in the middle of a drought now.

It's rough all 'round.

 

[Gather]

Last year was the worst bushfire Australia ever had... Now in Queensland it's the worst flooding the next year. God-damn I wonder what's going to happen to NSW; some sort of Water-Fire combination that will destroy all of the state?

Of course, condolences to those who lost something in these floods.

 

[TheHighway]

I was holidaying in Queensland in an area that got flooded and got back to Perth the day before the floods came...

 

[Danish rage]

I was surprised to see actual replies in this thread, I remember checking on the day and not seeing anything thinking to myself "Wow, thanks everybody, it's great you all care so much about real issues".

Oh well, that's okay now I guess... I'm still slightly disturbed by the fact completely fluff random articles get more attention, but hey.

I imagine its because the vast amount of people either don't know what to say or because they feel it would be inappropriate to talk.

Any notice Mr Brown suggesting the coal industry should pay for the damages?

This.

I have a few friends down there and i gladly help if i could.

I guess the bump of this post must suffice for now.

 

[Octopusesgarden]

I am from Scotland and I'm not sure my currency transfer will do on that website. Please tell me if there's any other way or website I can donate to.

 

[Reeves88]

just a quick update for those wanting to know becuase there news network hasnt told you, the water in brisbane has gone back to normal (not so sure about farm lands etc) but there just left with in some places mud (if you can call it that) 1 meter deep and mass damage

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

And yet HOW much international aid are we getting compared to what we give everyone else?

Its silly, there was only 1 comment on this about a big natural disaster yet a story about a woman throwing a Wii at someone has 40ish, i know it not many but a woman injuring her husband should not get better coverage than a national disaster

Well, to be fair Australia had floods exactly like these in '78 or '73 ... forgotten <.< 30 years ago thereabouts.

They are kinda unavoidable in Queensland. I mean, sure it's a disaster, but it's kinda hard for the government to request financial aid from abroad when people shoose to live in these locales.

One of the reasons why most insiurance companies don't even cover against riverine flooding (Essentially the really really bad kind where there's very little draining and it's rained so much that it's not a flash flood, but one that has shattered the banks of major waterways).

Australia is either the first or second most developed nation in the world? To be fair these sorts of disasters happen all the times in places less fortunate.

Mudslides and floods killed how many hundreds of people in the Philippines and Sri Lanka? Oh nos, 17 people killed (18 still missing last time I check) died in flooding in Australia.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20110113/tr_ac/7601454_floods_in_sri_lanka_brazil_and_philippines_kill_hundreds

Australian floods are bad, but it seems like the biggest thing that will hurt us (and yes, it's tragic ... my heart goes out to the victims) is financially, but even then ... we can afford it. We can rebuild, restart industry, repair what has been lost or damaged.

Butr we have to put the Australian floods in perspective ... they are no worse than what has happened to the rest of the world in the week ... and the difference is, unliuke most countries, we are prepared and can financially afford such natural disasters.

Within 4 months this natural disaster will be largely forgotten by most people in this country, much less the rest of the world .... just like how the the natural disasters in Asia we are blind to in the West. It's tragic, but the difference is that for bvetter or worse, this will just be another brief footnote in Australian history that will linger no longer once the waters completely recede.

People's houses will be rebuilt, government will deflate the dollar once exports start rolling on again to entice foreign money from buying Australian produce, and it will be like nothing ever happened.

 

[DeadAccountMoveAlong]

I'm not saying the Escapist isn't doing enough, I don't know what some people expect out of you guys, but could you make this one of the front page articles? Get rid of the candy cell or Netflix article for it.

 

[THEfog101]

We were told that we were going to be hit first and foremost (Mackay, Queensland) But then the system moved south-east and we only caught the tail end of it, in the end it was rockhampton our neighbors to the south which were screwed over first, still nothing compared to poor Toowoomba.

 

[SomeLameStuff]

I'm lucky I flew back to Singapore before the floods hit, but I got word that my apartment is submerged >.> Not looking forward to cleaning that up.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Yeah, our country is pretty damn big. Should prolly fix that someday.

I vote for the 'giant hammer of continent shattering' approach. But really, I like that we are so big, I'm pretty sure it is our enormous land-mass that lets us have backyards and stuff all over the place. Also, if we were smaller, where would we keep all our dangerous animals because I don't have the money to support them financially for any extended duration (or the life expectancy, because if I did that they'd probably bite/maul/strangle/poison me within a day).

 

[matt87_50]

You know... this really makes me mad. Roughly this time last year we heard absolutely nothing but Haiti on the US news for weeks and how we should do all we could to help those people in their time of need. A people who have historically not wanted and out and out refused US presence.

Yet we have a country who is having a similar level of disaster, who have long been friends to the US and we have basically heard nothing about it from our mainstream news outlets.

Haiti is a third-world country. It needs all the help it can get. (Even now. A year later, there are still huge problems in Haiti. Check out the articles on the UNICEF website [http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti_newsline.html].)

Australia, on the other hand, is very well off. We need some help at the moment, and rebuilding everything we've lost will take a long time. But I'm sure we won't have Queenslanders still living in tent cities this time next year.

And the death toll is not comparable. Estimates of the Haitian death toll range between 92,000 and 316,000 (numbers from Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Haiti_earthquake], if you're wondering). The Australian floods? According to the ABC [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/15/3113643.htm], 16 confirmed dead and 28 currently missing.

Please don't think I'm making light of the pain of those who have lost homes, livelihoods, friends and loved ones in the floods. But in terms of needing aid - I don't think the Australian floods are in the same league as the Haitian earthquake.

exactly! to any Aussies who are annoyed that we pay hundreds of millions of dollars a year in aid to other countries, and "why aren't they returning the favor now!?"

you don't donate money to a charity for the disabled homeless then demand charity from them just because your million dollar inner city pad gets infested with insects...

I'm from Brisbane, Australia. the reason we don't expect as much aid in return is A) because they can't afford to give it, and B) WE DON'T ****ING NEED IT! (NEED being the operative word there)

if everyone in Aus who pays tax, paid just 6% more this year, we would raise the 20bln dollars needed for repairs, instantly. and we have the nerve to ***** about people like Haiti - who are too busy still dieing on mass from a massive break out of disease, to think about making money - for what? our money back?? disgusting...

as it is, our country should have a contingency fund for this sort of thing anyway! even New Zealand did! there earthquake that devastated one of their biggest cities? no worries, there will be plenty left over in their fund after they use it to pay for the rebuild!

yet in Aus, a bigger country where, lets face it, the weather is not exactly forgiving... WE don't have something like this!? we consider it very irresponsible when we hear the individual flood victims don't have insurance, yet OUR COUNTRY seems to have no insurance!?

so that annoys me.

but yes, we will all have to pay to fix this, and it will not be a negligible amount to most of us (especially when you consider they skyrocketing cost of living) but compared to the situation in Haiti? IT IS ****ING NOTHING!

you wanna ***** about foreign aid, GO LIVE LIKE THEM!



not that I'm trying to discourage anyone from donating... Gov being Gov, will take AGES to sort out the red tape to help those who have lost everything, and ARE NOW HOMELESS. these people need money NOW, and donation is the best way for them to get it. and Aussies... make a donation now, because you'll just have to pay later anyway...

 

[That_Swedish_Guy]

I was surprised to see actual replies in this thread, I remember checking on the day and not seeing anything thinking to myself "Wow, thanks everybody, it's great you all care so much about real issues".

Oh well, that's okay now I guess... I'm still slightly disturbed by the fact completely fluff random articles get more attention, but hey.

I imagine its because the vast amount of people either don't know what to say or because they feel it would be inappropriate to talk.

Any notice Mr Brown suggesting the coal industry should pay for the damages?

Yeah, and that everyone went completely apeshit as soon as he'd said that. Especially Barnaby Joyce, calling it a 'rallying cry for the greens'

OT: I'm in Victoria, and I'm incredibly glad that the flooding hasn't reached Melbourne yet.

Hang on Queensland, it'll pass eventually.

 

[Iron Lightning]

hmm, sorry, I'd donate but I only use Paypal to protect myself from hackers. The page linked doesn't provide that option. Does anyone know of another fund I could go to that takes Paypal?