True Blue Aussie community spirit.
Amidst the ongoing stories of the devastation caused by the floods in Queensland, there was a piece on the news last night that caught my attention. Kinglake, one of the rural Victorian towns destroyed by bushfires on Black Saturday 2 years ago, are running fund raising projects for the Qld. flood victims. The people there say they have not forgotten the kindness and generosity of the Queenslanders two years ago, who in spite of their own problems with floods at the time, provided great support to Kinglake and other fire stricken communities.
The Kinglake Hotel is staging a music concert in their grounds on Australia Day to raise funds for the Banana benders. Ken suggested to me that we should support that instead of having our usual Australia Day party here at home, and I agreed. I'll ask our friends to join us there.
Ken and I have several friends living in various parts of Queensland, and we have been calling them to see if they are safe. My friend in Charters Towers (far north Qld) said they are fine. Very wet, but not flooded out. One of Ken's friends lives near the Gold Coast, and he said they are okay. But Ken's other friends (Ken and Ann P.)who have just returned home after spending Xmas down here with their family, are not so fortunate. They don't live close enough to any of the rivers to be flooded, but their semi rural property has been completely cut off by the floods around them. All the roads have been closed, so they can't get to any shops, and have run out of milk, bread and other fresh foods. Ken P. is blind and disabled, and needs regular medical treatment. Their grown up children don't live close enough to be of any help, and anyway, two of them have been evacuated from their own homes. It is at times like this that one feels utterly helpless in the face of so much tragedy.
In September last year, I wrote a post on this blog about the terrible floods in Pakistan, and that we were lucky in Australia to have support and infrastructure to deal with any catastrophes like that. Now here we are dealing with the same scenario, and while we are a lot better off than the poor people in third world countries who have floods like this, it doesn't make things any easier for those up north who have lost homes, businesses, crops, stock and loved ones. My heart goes out to them.
The Kinglake Hotel is staging a music concert in their grounds on Australia Day to raise funds for the Banana benders. Ken suggested to me that we should support that instead of having our usual Australia Day party here at home, and I agreed. I'll ask our friends to join us there.
Ken and I have several friends living in various parts of Queensland, and we have been calling them to see if they are safe. My friend in Charters Towers (far north Qld) said they are fine. Very wet, but not flooded out. One of Ken's friends lives near the Gold Coast, and he said they are okay. But Ken's other friends (Ken and Ann P.)who have just returned home after spending Xmas down here with their family, are not so fortunate. They don't live close enough to any of the rivers to be flooded, but their semi rural property has been completely cut off by the floods around them. All the roads have been closed, so they can't get to any shops, and have run out of milk, bread and other fresh foods. Ken P. is blind and disabled, and needs regular medical treatment. Their grown up children don't live close enough to be of any help, and anyway, two of them have been evacuated from their own homes. It is at times like this that one feels utterly helpless in the face of so much tragedy.
In September last year, I wrote a post on this blog about the terrible floods in Pakistan, and that we were lucky in Australia to have support and infrastructure to deal with any catastrophes like that. Now here we are dealing with the same scenario, and while we are a lot better off than the poor people in third world countries who have floods like this, it doesn't make things any easier for those up north who have lost homes, businesses, crops, stock and loved ones. My heart goes out to them.
posted by Gina E. | 1:07 am
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