Further more ....

Well, so it turns out that the Queensland Government could have ordered the engineers at Wivenhoe dam to start releasing small amounts of water during the previous week/s to the flood and the devastation to Brisbane would not have been so bad. How many lives would NOT have been lost?

So why didn't they? Turns out that Labor as a Political Party still adheres to the concept of Global Warming. Had they released the water it would have "been a waste of a valuable resource". Well, what did it end up as anyhow? How many "resources" were wasted as a result of the flood?

What idiot came up with the concept of Global Warming thinking Australia would be in perpetual drought? Accepted that there is some climate change going on, but this flood is a result of a strong El Nina event, NOT anything else. If we were warming up, then the flood would have been worse than the one in 1974 - even if it was more widespread - and what about the floods in the 19th Century which were even higher?

People have been going on about the insurance companies who are not going to pay out on damage because Flooding was not covered in some policies. The State Government is being heavy handed with the insurance companies trying to make them pay. I think if the insurance companies do do the right thing, they should demand an inquiry and investigation.

So much for having the "Greenies" on your side. So much for your tears Anna Bligh...

Floods...

I guess like most people in Australia, I have been watching the awful floods in Queensland. It has been very tragic that 15 people have lost their lives and thousands have lost their homes and possessions.

Having family who lives in Brisbane, I am lucky that none of these events have really touched them. I can't but wonder at the turn of events that prevented us from moving there two years ago as we originally planned. It reinforces that God really does care for me and my family.

I have to wonder too at the idea of building large commercial cities on the banks of rivers right where they meet the sea. Brisbane is a port with shipping on a regular basis. It is the same with New Orleans. Too much of the wrong weather and both cities were devastated. Toowoomba is a largish city as well. Flood plains are not called that without reason. Sooner or later there will be a flood.

Will sense ever prevail - hardly, since the size of the cities are too large to just abandon to the fates. There was a flood in Brisbane in 1974 so it stands to reason there will be floods in the future. Homes can be made flood proof or as flood proof as possible; in the future it should be the demand of insurance companies and councils that new houses are built only above the height of floods (on stilts - like the old Queenslanders) and/or have rooms that can be totally sealed off so that possessions can be safely stored during a flood event.

Insurance premiums will undoubtedly rise again, to help defray the costs of having to pay out on the floods. Some food stuff costs will go up from crops destroyed during the floods being unavailable. Mostly these sort of costs never come down again. It will be harder for the poor to afford these things. There is a sort of selfishness involved in these sort of lifestyle choices whether made consciously or unconsciously.

We are seriously reconsidering our choice to move to Brisbane now.