The weather in Queensland of late has been unreal.

Since Christmas we have just had one thing after another. It began with a string of thunderstorms and heavy rain. Not unusual for this time of year, but we seemed to cop a little more damage than usual. The house itself was fine, but we did lose a few things due to rainwater run-off. There was lots of cleaning up and mud through our entertainment area and the laundry/garage under the house. Just as you cleaned up after one storm the next one hit. Nothing too serious – just annoying.

Then it did get serious. Still hard to believe that this happened, I think it’s something that many people are going to take a long time to get over. Our city and a large part of the rest of Queensland flooded. In fact a large part of the rest of Queensland was already flooded and had been so since some time in December. The last time there was local flooding to this extent was 1974.

We ourselves were okay, but some of our friends were hit pretty hard. We took in some friends who hadn’t been so lucky. They and their two kids stayed here – first to be safe while the waters rose, and then to have a roof over their heads while their house was emptied, hosed-out and gutted of all it’s internal fixtures and walls. I still can’t get over their incredible strength during the whole ordeal and their determination to rebuild what they have lost and get on with their lives. They and others in their situation were truly inspiring, as were the multitude of volunteers who turned up and roamed the streets offering clean-up help wherever they could.

Images from the recent flooding Photos show Bundamba, North Booval and Goodna.

The post-flood heartbreaking sight of house after house in North Booval with their ruined contents piled high on the footpath.

Before people could get back on their feet again, the weather was back. We sat glued to facebook and the television for a few days – following the path of over-friendly cyclone Yasi who came to visit quite a number of our friends up in North Queensland. Happy to report that all are safe and unhurt. A few took damage to their homes and businesses, and one friend was devastated to hear that her parent’s home on the beachfront had been destroyed, but her parents had been safely sheltered in an evacuation centre.

Usually Queenslanders adapt to whatever the weather throws at us. This summer has just been a little more intense, and a lot more heartbreaking than usual.

Looking forward to a much better February 🙂