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So we got some stats the other day. Over the week of the floods we took around 16000 disaster related calls. This was in addition to the normal police/reporting calls we usually take, which average at about 2000 a day.



12000 of those disaster calls were on the first 3 days which is when I was on night shifts.



On a usual night shift we have 2 teams on. Our team has 10 people. The other team has 12 people. We got some overtimers in the 2nd and 3rd day but not the 1st.



Our team did approximately 30 hours of overtime in those 3 days.



...no wonder I was exhausted...

So as you may know from the news (if you're interested in stuff from around the world), most of the state of Queensland and a fair bit of northern New South Wales has been affected by flooding in the past couple of weeks.



This morning at 4am the floods peaked in Brisbane, which is where I live. I was at work at the time, and luckily my own house was ok. Walking to and from work the last couple of days has been a surreal experience - the roads practically deserted, police on the corners, people running around with sandbags, while the waters just kept pouring out of the sky and along the ground... I felt like I was in a disaster movie.



Today the sun is out and things are looking good, which is a relief.



Current information on the floods can be found here. Page includes numbers to call if you have loved ones in the areas affected by the floods. Please bear in mind if you call these numbers there are large queues due to the fact that they're staffed by volunteers who are also affected by the floods, or us police staff who are also doing a bunch of other stuff as well.



If you are trying to call people in the area and can't get through, don't panic as we have lost a lot of telecommunications infrastructure. A lot of areas can't get a mobile signal and a lot of landlines are out.



Interactive local newspaper special on the floods is here. Have a read.



If you would like to donate to the relief, please visit this page.



If there's one thing I've learnt over the past week or so during this situation, it's that I love my city and I hate to see her hurt. And that people really do pull together in a crisis.



Some images because people are visual:





The city and the river.









I used to catch this ferry to work, a long time ago.









Fresh caught fish at your doorstep, now in the CBD!!!

COMMENTS

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Cinnamon
14:50 Jan 13 2011

Oh, my. Yes, floods are bad. Not too long ago south Kentucky and Tennessee had a bad episode with flooding. Luckily my town didn't get it too bad, but just an hour away from here (where the then boyfriend lived) houses were damaged and then less than an hour from him, people were killed. Tennessee was a MESS. My friend has a house not even an hour from me and it has a very, very small creek running behind it. That creek rose until her house was flooded all the way up to the windows!! Nasty.



I'm glad you're ok, Draky! *hugs*

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Nedra
16:56 Jan 13 2011

Oh my - no fishies at my doorstep please!



Stay safe hun

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