Australia members?

[Brucepts]

Hope everyone is doing well!! I know there are a bunch of members from down-under and hope they are making it through the weather they are having.

[Tony]

Up in the tropical north of Oz, the very heavy monsoonal rains are a normal and expected part of life up there.
Well known as "the wet season" or "the big wet".
But what we are getting right now is rather exceptional.
Floods like this have happened many times before in the past, and will happen many times again.

The big problem is the cities and suburbs are growing, and houses built in low flood prone areas.
So what might have been a truly impressive flood in the 1800's or 1900's becomes a far more costly and dangerous flood today.

Australia has had a sustained drought for the last twenty years, so some heavy rain in southern oZ is actually very welcome. Our dangerously low dams and water storages are actually filling significantly, for the first time in twenty years.

It is supposed to be mid summer down here, the rain just buckets down all day one day, then the next day we get a clear blue sunny sky, and it can be quite hot outside. Quite odd weather.

Anyhow the whole thing seems reminiscent of the flooding of New Orleans during Katrina, but with one very notable difference.
Not one shot has been fired, nobody here goes around armed, not even the 1,200 military now up there doing search and rescue are armed.
No rapes, no murders, no looting. News and rescue helicopters have not been fired upon.

Very different to New Orleans during Katrina.

[Brucepts]

I was watching it this evening on the National News knowing I have customers/members in the Brisbane area. One lady was cleaning mud out and said it happened before and it will happen again, everyone just comes together and helps each other!

I'll leave the Katrina comments alone as I have the same feelings . . .

[jfholm]

Pray for our Australian Members - read an article that they would be hit tonight with the cyclone and would probably get another 3 feet of rain. Yes I did not make a mistake, 3 more feet of rain.

John