Third day at home since the flooding; road to Ipswich is open but in a very bad state, H. got through but rang to let me know that it wasn’t a good idea to be on the road unless I really had to be somewhere.
Rang work, and a lot of staff and volunteers have been unable to get in there, although enough live locally to keep the place running. Denis the counsellor has been staying at work, unable to get home to Brisbane.
Some interesting tidbits on the local radio, lots of calls from police and flood victims requesting gawkers to stay away from the flooded areas, and off the roads, just causing problems for them. One enterprising shopkeeper in Leichhardt decided that since everyone wanted fresh bread and he had some, he’d charge them $10 a loaf for it, pretty disgusting.
A lot of people wanting to help those who have been hit by the flooding, but it is too soon to do anything. Heard on the radio that the local evacuation centre at Gatton and Laidley were after donations of bedding and clothing, so I started throwing some stuff together. Then I was reading something online that the evacuation centres weren’t equipped to handle donations of goods, and to make financial donations instead.
Not so many choppers flying overhead today, a lot more ground searching is happening. Just read that a further body has been located, bringing the death toll to 14.