Queensland Flood Appeal

[st_aurafina]

I've had a couple of people ask after us - we're fine, we're nowhere near the flooded areas. We're at the bottom of the mainland, the floods are in the top north-east part of the country. The floods are bad. Nearly a hundred people are still unaccounted for. The death toll is expected to climb as emergency workers gain access to areas that are cut off.

amadi has a graphic with the USA superimposed over Australia, to give you an idea of the scale.

I don't know anyone in Brisbane (I think?) but I do know people on my flist who are. I'm thinking of your families, and hoping they keep safe.

Here is a site with constantly updating news and reports.

The hashtag for news on twitter seems to have settled on #qldfloods. I'm finding that hearing personal accounts (good and bad) via twitter is somehow less wracking than watching the news rehashing the same images and stories over and over.

Here is the link to the Premier's Flood Relief Fund Appeal.

waltzmatildah has a fic auction up and running here. amadi is also talking about organising a general fundraising auction at the post I linked above.

In 2009 during the Black Saturday fires in Victoria - my state - people in Queensland donated their flood relief funds to us for recovery. I'm putting these links up, hoping that it will give a little back after that kindness.

Comments

[nixwilliams]

here's a map showing UK in relation to flood-affected areas, too.

[st_aurafina]

Thanks for that. (I forget how small the UK is sometimes, actually!)

[nixwilliams]

what i wouldn't mind is one of how much of victoria would be under (i.e. most of the state, it's around the same size as the uk, iirc).

[ex_pippin880]

Some British friends of my aunt and uncle are planning to visit Australia, and they want my aunt and uncle to pick them up at Darwin, drive them down to Uluru, then back up to Cairns and all the way down the coast to Melbourne.

My aunt is trying to figure out the politest way of saying "fuck you and look at a map".

[st_aurafina]

Oh, sure, you can drive that! Lovely day trip. You can pack a lunch!

*headdesks*

[ex_pippin880]

Every time I think it can't get any worse, it has to stop raining now, it has to calm down... :(

I wish I had something I could offer for an auction! Hate feeling useless.

[st_aurafina]

Hey, we all do what we can, right? When you do have the resources to help someone out, I know that you will.

I think - maybe - the worst is over now? I mean, the clean up is going to be sad, and the death toll is going to rise, but I think the worst is over? *hopes*

[lurkingcat]

Thank you for the links!

I've got an aunt and uncle who live on the Sunshine Coast. So far they've only seen minor flooding but they're still quite worried.

[st_aurafina]

You're welcome. The Sunshine Coast seems to be faring okay so far. And I think the worst is over. (We've got some little floods now, but nothing catastrophic, and personally we're unaffected.)

[lyras]

I thought you two were well out of the way, but I'm glad to have it confirmed.

I've mostly been watching things go down over twitter, as well. Information overload, maybe, but at least it's not the same stories on repeat.

[st_aurafina]

Glad you're okay, too.

I think the community feel of Twitter makes the bad news easier to deal with, maybe? I find I get that overload feeling much less when I'm cruising through #qldfloods than when I'm reading the news.