How are the flooded Aussies?

[meganjane]

I did a search on google to find out how to donate to the Qld flood victims online. It came up with heaps of sites.
I did the same for the Canarvon flood victims and came up with two sites and they were both news articles.

I'm appalled.

[Frozzie]

be careful with donating as unfortunately more often than not the people who actually need it never get it..billions of dollars get raised both internationally and locally and it rarely gets where its supposed to be..in my opinion you would be better off donating food, clothes, toys etc etc...again my opinion only but i get a bit fed up with so called charitys wanting to raise money in teh name of disasters and the people who actually suffer never get much at all ((

[katesjoy]

Hopefully the donated goods that are still in warehouses after black saturday, will be winging their way upto Queensland.  thinking of all you queenslanders and west australians.

[Tebasile]

OMG, this makes you cry without being pregnant. I feel so sorry for you all over there! I have so many children toys and clothes to donate, but don't know how to send them  

[Cuilidh]

Frozzie, I am of much the same opinion as you are. 

Many years ago we were on a truck safari through Mozambique and went in to one of the village markets only to see sacks and sacks of maize on sale - all clearly printed "DONATED FROM THE PEOPLE OF THE USA" (or words similar to that, but you get the gist).  Ever since then I have been very wary of making any donations because this is obviously wide open for scams of this sort and it makes you so angry to see it when the people are so poor and in desperate need of help.

I had a friend in Chad who did volunteer work in the schools and had arranged for free school books to be sent from overseas for the kids - but she was not allowed access to them until she "acknowledged" the help of an official by dipping into her own purse. 

This is all so disappointing and I am not saying that it is always the case other than in those two situations mentioned .... but it does make you think and hesitate!

[cathy79]

While I realise that sometimes donations go missing, please be aware that at this point, many communities (including where we live Toowoomba) is completely cut off.  So we might not be getting any deliveries of anything for about 7 days.

So the main reason why they are asking for money is that money can be distributed, whereas donations of food, clothes, blankets etc can't get to many areas.

There is no milk, bread, meat, fruit or vegies, petrol, my husband bought the last packet of nappies on the shelf (hope they fit).  No bottled water, toilet paper etc.

What I'm grateful for during this time?

1.  My car got flooded but it was empty - could have had my family in it - and I have insurance.  So I'm going to try and be grateful for that while I negotiate it's value and sit on hold for a long time - could be so much worse!
2.  My backyard is a swamp - it's only a backyard.
3.  There's no milk or bread, but I make my own bread and am about to go on a quest for good nut milk recipes.  There was plenty of flour and almonds in the shops!

Thanks for your prayers during this time!

[Cornish Cream]

The news here in the UK is full of the devastation that is occurring in Queensland.Please take care and I'm thinking of you all during your terrible time.

[BimbyPT]

I don't watch a lot of news but have heard about the floods.
Hope everything gets back to normal asap and meanwhile I hope you all stay safe.

[isi]

When I watch the news my heart is so tight that I can not explain!
Apart from not knowing you personally - the mere fact of knowing that many of you are living a nightmare draws me the ability to communicate in a good mood!
Believe me, I think of you guys so much all the time -  that is extraordinary by the simple fact that our contact is so far yet so near!
I wont you to  know that my prayers are with you. I wish you strength to overcome all this disgrace.
On these occasions we feel so small and helpless .....
A big hug with a lot affection from this side of the world!
isabel from Portugal

[Snoozie]

I hope they get through soon Cathy as we were cut off for the best part of 2 weeks and people started going a bit stupid what with abusing the produce providers (local supermarket, bakery etc). The police had to hold people back so workers didnt get mobbed over fruit and veg!!! Right now we have limited access to long life milk, bread, milk, flour etc. Our petrol supplies are low but our community is only a fraction of what Toowoomba is.

I am glad to hear you and your family are safe. That really is the most important thing. I am grateful my family and friends are safe. Have friends/fam in Toowoomba, Murphy's Creek, Forest Hill, Ipswich etc and am so grateful they are safe. A couple of them had their cars swept away but better that than them! My cousin in Goodna had his house go under completely so he and his family have lost everything they couldn't get away in time but they are alive. Stressful moments as a friend was caught between two landslides on the range but she is safe at home now after spending a couple of days in an evacuation centre. Now as more communities in Qld are isolated we need to stay together. It's mindboggling our town was slowly emerging from isolation as the crises down there evolved.

Anyway what I'm trying to say is that I'm so grateful and so gutwrenchingly sorry for those who have suffered loss. The stories of courage and bravery coming out (latest of the young boy) has me in tears. There was no time.

Our nation remembers them.

[earth mumma]

It's just like the nightmare of black saturday repeating  . I cried for weeks after with all the stories and the destruction that happened then.  It's horrible seeing the images on the news but Cathy my heart goes out to you living in Toowoomba and having that as your reality.  I am praying that the poeple that are missiing have been stranded and that today will bring some good news.  Stay safe
  

[Cuilidh]

I've just been hearing on the news that the flood levels in Brisbane (Queensland) have not peaked at the higher level they had anticipated - I guess that's the only good news to come out of the north so far.

[hools003]

Cathy, my heart goes out to you. Snoozie, you too and anyone else who is in Qld and suffering.
I like how you are trying to look on the bright side and as long as family and friends are safe, it is only material things which can always be replaced, human life can't.
Thank goodness for your TM so you can make your own nut milk and bread. I was wondering how people are coping with limited supplies and children. As you were saying about nappies, what do you do when you run out? Have you got cloth ones?
I'm thinking of you and hope supplies can get through very soon.

[LeeJ]

be careful with donating as unfortunately more often than not the people who actually need it never get it..billions of dollars get raised both internationally and locally and it rarely gets where its supposed to be..in my opinion you would be better off donating food, clothes, toys etc etc...again my opinion only but i get a bit fed up with so called charitys wanting to raise money in teh name of disasters and the people who actually suffer never get much at all ((

This is so true Hlaf of my family lived in Kinglake when Black Saturday hit. How my uncle made it out, we don't know, he was there when it hit, it was the most terrifying thing.

Then, all the donations, millions and millions, enough for everyone who suffered the loss of their homes, so much more money then any of them needed to rebuild. But they didn't get it.

In the end, the couldn't get donated goods, as they were trying to figure out a ticketing system to be fair, they can't rebuild, because the clean up and permits are still going.

My family ended up moving, not being able to cope with the stress, and with no end in site.  

All of our family rallied together and got a good little bundle of cash together for those that had nothing left, and they are happily living in another part of Vic now.

It seems that QLD have been far better orchestrated, so perhaps the donations will go where they are needed this time, I sure pray they do!!

[Snoozie]

Cathy, my heart goes out to you. Snoozie, you too and anyone else who is in Qld and suffering.
I like how you are trying to look on the bright side and as long as family and friends are safe, it is only material things which can always be replaced, human life can't.
Thank goodness for your TM so you can make your own nut milk and bread. I was wondering how people are coping with limited supplies and children. As you were saying about nappies, what do you do when you run out? Have you got cloth ones?
I'm thinking of you and hope supplies can get through very soon.

An old gentleman at an evacuation centre was quoted this morning as saying, "don't cry for things that don't cry for you".

Really disgusted by looters and charlatans.