How are the flooded Aussies?

[whisks]

i just spoke to my friend in qld and she's fine and very lucky. she didn't have power for a few days, and in that time all the neighbours got together and shared food. no looting. i wish everyone was as lucky. i hope everything is restored in record time.

[maddy]

Oh Peps  I had no idea......wishing you a positive outcome  xxxooo

[Nay-nay]

There's just no words....Every time my kids have been worried about tsunami or floods I've told them we're safe on top of a mountain and pity help the rest of Australia if we went under - what do I say now!? The amount of water has been just unbelievable.      My heart breaks and thoughts go out to all affected and touched by this disaster.    The roads have been decimated. In the long term - I hope everyone has their gardens planted cause the whole food supply of Australia has been drenched and swept away.  

[quirkycooking]

That's what I'm thinking, Nay Nay - time to get serious about gardening!!!

[foodiepep]

We are planting a garden tomorrow.

As for the looters, please remember this is only a very few unscrupulous people less that 0.001% of the SEQ population.

[Cuilidh]

I got an email this morning from my sister who lives in Queensland and she wrote this:

" .... there was some panic buying with bread, milk and petrol, but the roads are open now. 1 lady went to buy 6 loaves of bread when there was a limit of 3, when they stopped her at the checkout she tore open 3 of them, threw on the floor and stamped on them so no-one else could have them."

What a %&^*#@! person - I hope they made her pay for those three loaves and confiscated the other three.  Like the looters, there are very few like her, but they somehow seem to overshadow all the good folks.  I heard on the news that there were 12,000 volunteer helpers in Brisbane on Saturday and they were expecting the same on Sunday. 

We had some minor flooding in my husband's workshop (in Central Victoria) and we were so lucky to have wonderful neighbours who turned out to help us as well.  We were very lucky compared to so many others.  I suspect the really hard part for them will start now, once they can actually get back to their homes and come to terms with their own personal situation.

[cookie1]

That is so disgusting. How could she?

[Nay-nay]

You can't even think of any excuse for some people - How do you get to that point!? 

[Frozzie]

it is disgusting what she did but you never know someones personal life and circumstances (eg does she have a large family to feed and not only one or tswo children for example...systems are never fair..3 loaves could be ample for one family even more than enough but not enough for another? as well as whatever stresses life put on her) and so personally i think its best not to judge..stress can make people do some wacky things and unfortunatley there are always people around like that..I dont think they are always people who do it on purpose if you kow what i mean just circumstances change them but still a horrible thing to do.  Saying that there are also some very egotistical horrible people around but I think especially in a country like oz, people are generally helpful, friendly and easy going most of the time compared to the rest of the world and even those people can have a crazy moment..

If people didnt panic buy also I dont think it would have been as bad ie stocks emptied etc...we had a similar problem re fuel stocks end of last year over here...stock was more limited than usual and every man and his dog went and filled up not only their cars but also jerry cans etc etc...if people only took what they needed it wouldnt have been asz bad and people wouldnt have started fighting each other and going crazy over something so stupid...sorry to sidetrack just trying to show that stress and panic make people do stupid things.

[Cuilidh]

I agree with you Frozzie, we don't know the individual circumstances, but her behaviour really was selfish and inexcusable (after all, if she needed more bread, she could have easily gone back into the store a minute later to buy some more and no one would have known the difference).  However, you are also right, stress does make most of us act out of character and panic buying totally blows everything out of proportion.  You are a very understanding person and I should try to take a leaf out of your book and try to be more compassionate.

[Frozzie]

cuilidh it is also alot easdier to be compassionate and understanding when you arent in the thick of it and its not on the tv to remind you ever 5 secs...(im not a bit lover of media in oz...over and over and over again.sometimes too much is too much..need to let people process the news and not shove it down their throats) like i said stress changes us..i think everyone just needs to do the best they can with the circumstances given to them

hope people are getting the support and help they need 

[cookie1]

Frozzie, you have made a good point. So very kjind of you. I must agree about the media here. I get really angry when they shove a microphone under some people's noses at very distressing times.

[Cuilidh]

You're right, Cookie1 - especially when they ask such inane questions as ".. and how do you feel about what has happened to you / your house?" etc. etc.  It is so facile!!

[Katya]

I think one of the saddest things about the media is the way in which they move on so quickly after the event has happened although the communities are still suffering for many months, if not years afterwards.

We've had some bad flooding in the UK over the past few years and on the anniversary they revisit the people and find that some of them are still unable to move back in to their homes.   They become forgotten when the next big media story hits.

[Merlin]

I agree. The media drives me nuts. At the height of the floods we were getting 24 hours news coverage of the flooding on all  of our major TV channels. How many times must we see the same horrifying footage? It was like the coverage of 9/11, when we had to see the images of the planes over and over. Now, we are lucky to get updates on the news and one can only imagine what every poor soul whose house, business, belongings etc have been ruined by the floods, let alone those people still missing or those who aren't able to get back to see their property for now.I just think the media are atrocious. Instead of getting  interviews of people in their darkest times, they should roll up  their sleeves, muck in with everyone else and help out.At least that would achieve something more useful than  getting ratings.