James,
I would like to bring you and your readers a synopsis of the floods in Australia and their probable scenarios; firstly I have a first hand view through sandbagging and seeing friends through rising floodwaters, so I have a strong viewpoint. Around where we were in Brisbane east side , the water rose very quickly, the house where our friend is on a flat concrete slab, the water rose within 2 hours about 3 feet ! The house was saved along with much prayer.
It is estimated that seven billion tons of water has been dumped on Queensland !
Let me explain, Brisbane had floods in 1974, the city then was more like a very large country town, the population was a little over 1 million people, there was very little high rise then, the previous flood peaked at 5.45 meters and put 6,700 homes under water contrast that with today 60,000 homes and last week over 100,000 people had no power. The peak this time was about 1 meter lower I think.The devastation this time was over a much bigger area.
As of now 28,650 properties were still without power, sewage plants are not functioning, 75% of the state is has lost crops such as avocados, which happen to be very sensitive to having their feet wet, they stress, prices for capsicums, tomatoes, lettuce and broccoli will skyrocket, the states sugar cane crop is under water, $500 million worth is wiped out. Two growers in Chinchilla have lost $20 million between them.
For many of the farmers are getting wiped out, this will be the end for many of them, in this part of Queensland most of the nations crop of sweet potatoes , zucchinis ,cucumbers, macadamias mangoes and lychees are grown.
In Queensland beef prices can only go one way up! Livestock can’t get to market because the roads have been destroyed, also 200,000 tons of wheat and barley have been wrecked. Mines need to be drained and supporting infrastructure needs to be completely re built or replaced, in the mean time though countries around the world that rely on Australia’s coking coal will go elsewhere to get it, its estimated that Australia loses 100 million every day the mines can’t get their product out.
When will the rail roads be up and running again? when will the large produce markets be up and running again ? what about the road networks ? no one knows !
Add to all that, some of the mining companies like Energy and Easternwell have reported damaged or non-operational rigs.
There have also been looters at work, they row along in small dinghies jump onto a roof of a flooded house, prize away some roof tiles and get into the roof space stealing peoples money and valuables stored there in safety and make off with the goods, people have enough heartache to contend with without having these low-lifes steal all they have left.
My wife thinks I am too harsh (I think the cops should shoot a them, then hang him up on a pole with a sign around his neck saying “LOOTER”) how many will loot after that? Not many I suspect.
Also there have been some instances of women being sexually molested in evacuation centers ( reminds me of Katrina )
I saw people come in canoes or boats with what they considered their most valuable possession , one woman came in make up with all her diamonds and jewels with a mink coat, another woman with a short statue of eastern origin, and another guy with a old bottle of whisky , amazing to me, I guess under pressure we all will take what is most valuable to us.
My family had our 72 hour kit, our Bibles and our pets, we were ready and we are doing well, ( much better than almost all we know ) lots of people laugh at us and think we are nuts, not any more though.
It seems to me that the country is in for a rough ride around the world because of the loss of the floods, people are now losing their jobs in other big cities such as Sydney or Melbourne, friends of ours have been laid off because the banks call centers and marketing firms have closed because of the Queensland head offices are under water.
Thanks to SurvivalBlog my family has a heads up and are miles ahead, I see many totally unprepared for food shortages ahead, this has greatly impacted this country and will effect many more areas in other states.
So in the meantime, I would encourage anyone, have your bug out bag (BOB) ready and food and water for at least 12 weeks as a minimum.