Thursday, January 13, 2011

The waiting game
Now everyone is waiting for the flood waters to recede. Then the massive, massive clean up begins. Apparently, it will take about two years for things to fully restore. We plan to go and help at Rosalie if we can.
My husband hurt his back filling sandbags and got a bit of heatstroke to boot! He said there were plenty of volunteers from all walks of life lending a hand.
Meanwhile, I found another photo of an animal dodging the floodwaters.
This photos was on ninemsn and it was snapped around Texas on the Queensland/New South Wales border. The fox rode the tyre who knows how far, then jumped off and swam. Clever little thing.
There is something about foxes that I love.
We checked out the water at Rosalie first hand today. I thought the smell would be worse (raw sewerage and all), but to me it smelt like a restaurant the morning after a busy night. Anyone who has been a waitress or chef would know it, it's a not entirely unpleasant smell of slightly old food and stale cooking oil. Maybe this is due to the precinct being full of restaurants??  I'm sure it will get a whole lot 'stinkier' in the next few days.
This afternoon I walked down to Suncorp Stadium. The water is still sitting there too. I used to live in a house a few doors from the Stadium and I noticed it had quite a lot of damage.
Like most people I have a new found respect for our Premier. She has done a wonderful job and shown super human powers by giving a news conference almost every two hours for the last couple of days. No doubt the hoopla surrounding Christine Nixon going to dinner during the Victorian bushfires may be in the back of her mind too.
Anna Bligh has been articulate, succinct, sensible, everything we would want in a leader during a crisis.  The strain is really starting to show, but she is doing a tremendous job. I feel proud of her.
Let's hope the folks in Goondiwindi have a lucky escape from the water.

11 comments:

  1. Yes the clean up is go to be long and hard. Let's hope that cyclone stays away too. Hope your husband is feeling better soon. It is so hard to just watch what has happened let alone how hard it must be to actually be in it. Cheers Katherine

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  2. I hope the little blighter made it, he certainly deserved to land safely!
    Agree about our Anna, she has won respect from my family for her approach and leadership in this crisis.
    xx

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  3. Long time follower, first time poster.
    Smart fox.
    I need to see Rosalie first hand too - we are also locals.
    And totally agree about Anna - she has done a super job.

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  4. Here! Here! Whatever you think of Anna Bligh & politics, she has done a marvellous job, along with all of her "support crew" (police commissioner, SES minister, etc). I also think Campbell "Can Do" Newman our Lord Mayor, who often cops a little bit of flack, is doing a great job. You can see the Engineer in him coming out ... precise information & not willing to speculate on questions thrown to him by the media that he's not qualified to answer. I think that's a wise thing to do with a lot of misinformation going around. There are some great images going around regarding animals and the flood. I too blogged about the snake & frog (hoping that it's not photoshopped). I love the photos of the kangaroos hitching a ride in some boats.

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  5. Anna has been fantastic.

    India

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  6. Yes, our Prime Minister has some incredible strength and has encouraged everyone in our State to stay strong and band together. It's just so hard to fathom this disaster.

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  7. Anna's stoicism and Can Do's sensible approach have been fantastic x

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  8. The clean up is going to be a stinker.My sons boss at work is taking 2 weeks leave so he can go up to QLD to help with the clean up.Smetimes a disaster really brings out the good in people..xx

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  9. Great write up and I agree with you about Anna Bligh..she really is shining in this time of adversity. Take care up there....Mel xx

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  10. I think a lot of people will have a newfound respect for both the Premier and The Lord Mayor. Thank goodness the waters are receding quickly, everybody just wants to be able to get in there and start the cleanup. It is really heartwarming to see how many people are wiling to offer help and support. Yes, lets hope that the levee is not broken in Goondiwindi, fingers crossed. Have a good day, Robyn

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  11. Totally agree with your comments about our Premier, she has been absolutely fantastic. Maybe we have just discovered that her true strengths lie in crisis management as opposed to strategic planning.

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