Brisbane Floods 2011 – World Event in my City.
It’s been a bit surreal to have your home town featured in the World News! However, the Brisbane Floods 2011 are very real, and I’ve never seen the city preparing for something like this.
I went down to the Brisbane River this morning to check it out, and I haven’t seen so much water barrelling down here ever! There’s all sorts of rubbish being transported out to sea (i.e. Moreton Bay), such as boat pontoons, 44 gallon drums, and even refridgerators! I’m only used to seeing the ferries, and maybe the odd booze cruise boat on the River!
Check out the video still below – that’s a pontoon in the bottom left hand corner!
This video still was taken from the Kangaroo Point cliffs which is just south of the Brisbane Central Business District.
I could even smell the river from up here – it smells like dirt!
Tomorrow (Thursday 13 January 2011) will be interesting as the Brisbane Floods are predicted to be at similar levels to the massive 1974 flood – at around 5.5 metres. What you’re seeing in the shot above is the Brisbane River at a height of only three metres.
It’s been interesting watching the coverage on TV, and even via Twitter. People are sending Twitpics of everything, including empty supermarket shelves because of the panic buying and locals sandbagging their properties.
I put together a rough video of what the Brisbane River looked like at around 9am on Wednesday 12 January. Yep, there’s loads of water.
Brisbane Floods 2011 Video
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiT28G2kndw[/youtube]
I must admit, I did think of New Orleans at first. I went to New Orleans 7 months after Hurricane Katrina and was blown away at what a natural disaster could do to a city. Ironically, New Orleans and Brisbane are of a similar size, and when I walked the streets of ‘The Big Easy’, I felt that New Orleans was like 80% of Brisbane’s population had left all at once.
I don’t think these Brisbane Floods will be anywhere near that (I bloody hope not, because what I saw in New Orleans blew me away!), but I’m one of the lucky ones – my house is located on high ground and well away from the flood zone.
But I know these Brisbane Floods are going to cause a lot of chaos and disruption!
These will be the biggest floods to hit the city since 1974. There were bigger ones in 1893, where the Brisbane River reached a monster 8 metres in height, but we’ll see what happens!
Here is a photo of those 1893 Brisbane Floods way back when!
Anyway stay tuned for more interesting times at the Brisbane Floods!
More Brisbane Floods 2011 Stuff
You can learn more about the 1974 flood at 1974 Disasters and at Wikipedia.
See more at Weird Things to do in Brisbane.
I found your blog through your piece on Travel Writer’s Exchange. Loved what you had to say there. Very sad about the floods in Brisbane and all over Australia. The flooded walkway on the video puts it in perspective. Hope it’s over soon!
Thanks for the feedback! It’s cleaning up time here in Brisbane, and there’s lots of mud to spray off the walls! It will take a while, but everyone will bounce back!
dear Anthony, very sad to hear about the flood in your city. hope you and your family alright….