Sth East Qld Flooding and Tornados ..... Stay safe everyone

[Cargo]

Thinking of all the Aper's that reside down there .... My thoughts are with you through this frightening & dreadful time.
Stay safe as possible
Cargo

[ricktas]

Thanks for the thread Cargo.

I also wish all AP members stay safe and come through this with minimal damage to property.

[William]

Here at Currumbin we've had 74.4mm , Max wind gust so far of 78km/h http://www.weatherzone.com.au/qld/southeast-coast/currumbin , It's windy though :)

[Wayne63]

We have had 130mm of rain here so far at Broadwater with gusts up to 50k's, but still more to come overnight as the main part is not quite here yet

[Analog6]

It's wild here at Terranora. The wind is screaming round the house and through every crack (didn't realise we had so many!) sounds like the Perfect Storm movie soundtrack. And the rain is flooding in under the windows of our eastern glassed in verandah - always does with a nor'easter, luckily we don't get them very often.

In the night I heard Warwick's drink cans that he squashes for recycling being sucked out of the big bale they are stored in and scuttling off - and it is on the sheltered side of the house and the bale was only 1/3 full, so they were well down.

Lots of other bumps and clunks in the night, each one accompanied by a startled "waouw" from Honey the Siamese cat, who hid under the sheets with me most of the night. She doesn't like it AT ALL.

I see Mt Stapylton radar has succumbed, so no Doppler reading but I'd say, from yesterday, it's been 70-90kph most of the night.

I'll have even deeper sympathy for anyone who endures a Cyclone after this!

And no photo excursion this morning, no way I'd go out in the van in this wind, it would be like trying to drive a brick if the wind was side on.

Here is Snapper pano from yesterday morning, about 9.25 - the join was weird so I had to do a bit of jiggery pokery and cutover to get it looking reasonable, note this is NOT a work of art, it;s just to show conditions. I was home by lunchtime and we are well battened down.

96961

Pt Danger seas through the windscreen about 15 mins later
96960

[StanW]

My sympathies are with all you folk. The sun's shining here.

[dbax]

the wind has been relentless over night though thankfully the rain has eased, the neighbour's gum tree came to rest on our roof overnight, a rather gentle landing thanks to another smaller tree so no damage to speak of. The wind has shifted it overnight so there is more of it in the tree rather than on the roof. As Odille said its still a howling wind here on the Tweed today and I'm not going out, lots of green debris still sailing thru the air with the wind gusts. They say it should begin to ease this afternoon. I think Ill leave the cleaning up till then at least......maybe tomorrow

[Steve Axford]

Bit damp here. About 250mm yesterday and still raining and windy. Be nice if it stopped and I could get some photos.

[wideangle]

600mm in parts of far north Queensland in 24 hours when it came through last week.

[Mathy]

Thinking of all you guys up there in QLD, it sounds horrible :eek: Stay safe, cheers Deb

[OzzieTraveller]

G'day all

I'm inland of Port Macquarie for a week of bushwalks etc

The place I'm at has had 350mm of rain in the gauge from Thursday lunch to Monday lunchtime & we're flooded in -
the creek crossing out of here has gone from 300mm to 700mm deep and the running water is too fast for most 4wd's & our motorhome to even attempt

There's 50mm of water across the campground, running away into the local creek; the swiming pool at the campground has risen by 150mm since we arrived and is now overflowing.

I've tried for some images of it all, but the camera & I get soaked to the skin after only 5 minutes - so it gets easier to stay indoors and just look

Here's a local creek behind my van - it & 1/2-dozen feeds into the main creek that I and others here have to cross to get out ...
http://i46.tinypic.com/34dlxck.jpg

Regards, Phil

[Mathy]

Hi Phil, I know this is not for CC, but that's a nice capture, maybe needs the foreground levels adjusting :) Now! You stay safe, please :D, cheers Deb

[Analog6]

The power came on last night at 8.30pm after being off since 1pm.

THANK YOU COUNTRY ENERGY CREWS - A BIG GOLD STAR FOR YOU!!

We dined by candle and gas light on smoked slamon and pasta - not too much of a hardship! The bar fridge was awash so I dried that out, it needed defrosting anyway.

Two branches down, the water keeps coming in under the windows, all the furniture is rearranged so we can put towels on the puddles, the corner of the verandah fell off, most of the avocados have been blown off the trees - but hey, we were dry, fed and have a roof over our heads. Wind gusts have been 140kph and it was STILL howling round the house when I finally dropped off round 10pm.

Our landlord lives in the other house on the property, and we met amidst the chaos of rain and gales on the road this afternoon, when he said they lived through Cyclone Yasi and the rain here has been heavier, which surprised me. And he said our winds are nearly as bad. So much for the EX part of TC Oswald.

So for those to the south, I'll say it again.

STAY INSIDE, STAY OUT OF WATER, TAKE INSIDE OR TIE DOWN LOOSE OBJECTS, STORE SOME WATER, GET ALTERNATIVE COOKING MEANS IF YOU CAN.

If you have gas bottles get them filled NOW. And keep your phones on charge so if you lose power you can still communicate.

Good luck!

We have awoken this morning (Tuesday) to the sounds of silence - blissful. Then a kooka chrus and more birdsong. Still very damp and misty here and if the sun comes out today the humidity will be very high but thank heavens the howling wind has gone.

And the sun is put - yip yip yippee.

Since the 21st, when I stared recording this as an 'event' in my rainfall spreadsheet, we have had 198mm of rain not counting the 9am this morning read. It is a bit of an under-record as our guage has slipped and was being blocked from the north a bit, Warwick fixed it Sun morning.

looking east
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looking north east (through glass)
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Looking noreast - through very diry glass :)
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[Warbler]

Millions of tonnes of water sucked through Oswald and deposited all over Qld and Northern NSW. The power of nature. Got folks up here whinging that their mobiles and internet went out for 24hrs. Some graphic flood images here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/CQ-Flood-Update-version-2/141812715875433

By all accounts the rain got heavier as it went past here. 600mm falls in 24 hrs behind the Gold Coast. All that water has to go somewhere.

It is back to hot here already. 35 degrees yesterday, 37 degrees today.:(

[Mary Anne]

I do hope everyone is Ok in Qld and NSW..

Our Power came back a little while ago, 44-45 hours without it, I did not mind no Internet, no tv, no radio the first day, no phone the first day, trying to cook the food on a one burner gas bottle, I did not even mind the warm water to drink .

What I did mind was the Ants they were everywhere on the sink, on the kitchen benches, climbing up the walls, in the kitchen drawers in and around the bath, in the clothes basket and when I was cleaning the fridge out imagine my shock to find there were hundreds in the seals around the door, it was a mass of black it took us over a hour to get rid of them.

[Mathy]

MA, you're very stoic (compared to me) about doing without internet, radio and phone. I can cope with the one burner gas bottle, that's like camping, right? :D

Are ants usually a problem,or had they been driven into those places by the weather? cheers Deb

[Mary Anne]

Occasionally we get them Deb where the back decking is connected to the house, though never like this before there were thousands of them.
With all the garden under water the past few days I guess they had to go somewhere and the best way was up :D

[kaiser]

We had atleast 600mm fall further up in the valley and flood levels in Laidley were higher than 2011. Lots of clean up going - its great to see everyone helping each other out and also all of the non local volunteers who have come in to help clean up.

[kaiser]

http://kaiserphoto.smugmug.com/Other/uploads/i-fBX3Rwq/0/L/photo-4-L.jpg

http://kaiserphoto.smugmug.com/Other/uploads/i-ZPnqmrD/0/L/photo-5-L.jpg

http://kaiserphoto.smugmug.com/Other/uploads/i-cL8vpbm/0/L/photo-6-L.jpg

[Analog6]

And why you should not drive through floodwaters - if kaiser's shots of 'what lies beneath' weren't enough for you.

97081

The insurance assessor was there when I was taking this - the people got out all right. They were not only driving through water over the road, they were doing it at the height of the heavy rain and visibility would have been zero. No deadline is worth it!

[Mary Anne]

Thats a whopping lot of rain kaiser and thanks for taking the time to get those photos it may make some people think twice..

You are so right Odille and its a shame some people don't listen as they will never hear again..

[yummymummy]

we made it through as well.. stuck in our house for 2 and a bit days. both ends of our street were flooded, one end with 6 and a half metres of water, and one end with just a metre, still it was enough to keep us in. I saw some absolutely STUPID things while we were stuck in here.... one guy, decided that it would be a wonderful time to get in his car, and do circle work in the interesction near our house.. great idea buddy.. you go mate.. crash and then complain to who ever will listen about the emergency services not being able to get in... Same dude, 2nd night, 1 metre of water, decides to tackle the water in his car, at 80km/hr .... WITH HIS TWO SMALL KIDS IN THE CAR!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, he sure copped a mouthful from me.. couldn't see it from my point of view, if he'd have floated away, it would have been left up to us, his neighbours to save his kids. I took photos, and have handed them over to the police, in the hopes that they'll do something. just too stupid for words.

[Mathy]

OMG! The stupidity of the human race never ceases to amaze me :eek: If a hiker can be charged for recklessly endangering his life (and those of rescue peeps) for going on a 2 day hike with only 1Kg of potatoes (and something else) and getting lost, then this dude deserves to have the book thrown at him. Good on you for following up on this idiots stupidity, cheers Deb

[Cargo]

Its great to hear you have all come through this, although there has been so much damage and loss.
Its heartbreaking and at times overwhelming when you start the clean-up and at times you feel you will never get to the end of it .... But you do and often with new friendships, respect for mother nature, awe for the resilience and stoicism of people.
There will always be the idiots who not only risk their own lives but the lives of others, and they don't learn until disaster is actually on their doorstep, and even then some never get it.
Things can be replaced & gardens regrow ( I know from experience ) Family and loved ones ..... Thats what matters and they cant be replaced.
All the best to each and everyone of you ..... May the weather gods be kind :love::love::love:
Cargo

[flashc]

I was born in Bundaberg and have seen a few local floods but never thought I would see the major flooding and destruction resulting from the rainy remnants of a cyclone. Of course, the high speed wind gusts, tornados and torrential rain weren't expected either...

Only today have all major access restrictions been lifted and residents allowed full access to the devastated areas of the city...