How are we doing in floods and snow?

[OnkaBob]

The floods in Queensland are big news in Aus at present and we have a few members up that way including Hairymick, Ossie Bruse, I Smell Smoke and Jacko. How are you all faring?

News of the US is less detailed here but I gather there are unusual amounts of snow hitting some of what I gather are relatively southern states including Alabama. How are you guys coping with that and is it really that unusual?

Hope things are OK for you all.

[jem]

Some extreme weather cycling all over the globe. It's snow in my neck of the woods but I grew up in Wisconsin so this is nothing new to me. What stinks is everything shuts down with the threat of snow or a little ice. So you just need to stay ahead of it.

Luckily we never lost power so it's all good. Some not so fortunate.

[hairymick]

G'day Bob,

Jacko and I are fine thanks mate. The floods are horrific at the moment with 10 confirmed dead and I heard on the back channel this morning rumours of many more.

While our own problems are significant enough, our hearts and prayers go to those in Toowoomba and in the Brisbane and Lockyer valleys at this time.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/819 ... -by-floods

[i smell smoke]

the town itself of texas is ok the river has flooded all the farms along the river including the one that i work on.and a lot of out of town small acreage houses
i watched this morning as our years production of hay floated past town 500 ton of big bales and thousands of small bales washed away from of ron's ( my boss and mate ) 700acre farm. the whole farm is under water including a few million bucks worth of tractors and machinery is under water ,his house had 3 inches of freeboard left at the floor when the river peaked this morning.
the town of texas used to be down on the river flat many many years ago and it flooded so they shifted the whole town up the hill and rebuilt the area where texas used to be is now under water only a few people live down there now one is a very old mate of mine old ted he is 89 and aint movin for nothin .
here is a picture taken out the front of my shop this morning looking down the main street at what was a farm yesterday, town is normally about 1.5 miles from the river but not today it aint it,s part of the river .
on the plus side plenty of stuff to float a boat on for a long time to come .
on the down side a lot of dead and dying cattle floated past today .
saw a tyre float past in the main current with a live fox on board , the fox looked a bit confused.

[PiratePete]

The thing that gets me is a river can rise 20m but also flood out over kilometres of country. . . . . . . how much water is there to cover all that. . . . . .

Glad I am in Tassie . . .

Hope you get through things OK

[Ossie Bruce]

Hi Bob,

OK here as well mate, the rain is to the north and south today and maybe here tomorrow if the forcast is right. we are used to a bit of water here. I think it is worse around Mick's way and Brissy etc.

Thank you for concern mate

Bruce

[john the pom]

Just spent a couple of days (stuck) in Brisbane. First I couldn't get there, for work, then when I did I couldn't get home. My work chances now are just about buggered for weeks
and I've only managed to average one and a half days a week for the last seven weeks. (not all but some weather related) Yep I'm skint and in debt, but that pales into insignificance when you see what so many people have lost and are losing as I type. One daughter in Brisbane tonight is sitting watching for the first sign of water coming up the road and she will be off up the hill to the church. Poor bugger only arrived back from the Uk yesterday. After a month covered in snow! Other daughter and family are, we believe/hope still in an evacuation shelter at their local school. Phone services are pathetic and the bloody frustration of just not being able to contact someone is unbearable. These are heartaches and hardships, but are nothing compared to some where families members have been literally torn from each others arms to their deaths. Its a bit cliche but these things are supposed to happen somewhere else, not here.
cheers John.

Edit:

The thing that gets me is a river can rise 20m but also flood out over kilometres of country. . . . . . . how much water is there to cover all that. . . .

Half a million megalitres a day are being released from Wivenhoe dam, a million megalitres a day were flowing INTO the dam this last week. A smaller controlled release has been intermittent since October last year The following clip show the smaller release.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FImBH3-aqEw
That's how much water that is. And you'll notice that was the first flood release in ten years.

[surfman]

Seen some of the Aussi floods on TV and it looks pretty bad. Of course the US gets their fair share of that action at times too and it is never good no matter where it is. Our prayers are with you and yours.

[OnkaBob]

Good to hear you're all well even though some have been affected.

That volume of water is difficult to comprehend but even more than that I can't grasp how all of that was up there in the sky as water vapour not long ago - how much volume would that have been?

Steve and John, I keep casting my thoughts back to the flood that went through Cedar Rapids just a few years ago. We heard a little about that on here from Lee who had his Freedom build interrupted by it and I thought of it at the time as something that happens elsewhere. Obviously not so.

Hope everyone stays safe.

[Ossie Bruce]

HI Bob,and Pete

How are things down your end of Oz?
You can have the rain as we do not need it back.

Bruce