Seriousness: Queensland Floods

Band of the Week is coming in a couple of hours and I apologise for two serious posts in a row, but I needed to mention this.

As I'm sure many people are aware now, vast tracts of the Australian state of Queensland have been devastated by flooding in the past weeks. An area apparently 5 times the size of the UK and twice the size of Texas has been affected. Three quarters of the state have been declared a disaster zone. Given how huge the state is, that's an absolutely massive area. At least 30 people are dead, with another 61 still missing. 15 of the deaths are from this last week alone, after a huge wave of floodwater ripped through Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley and flooding spread to previously unaffected areas such as Brisbane and Ipswich.

All in all, Queensland is having a rough time of it. Flooding in the last few weeks has ruined food crops - some farmers have estimated that they may have lost up to 95% of some crops. This is affecting even those areas not subject to flooding. I was in Cairns last week and the supermarkets there were having shortages because a) crops had been lost and b) there were problems actually getting the produce up to Cairns. Many roads have sections underwater, which is playing havoc with transport. Townsville, down the coast from Cairns, is having to bring supplies in by sea, despite not being directly affected by the floods.

It's not just Queensland, either. Flooding has been ongoing in parts of New South Wales since mid-December and Melbourne has had flash flooding in the last few days. Western Australia experienced floods in December too, when the Gascoyne River burst its banks. In my Travelling post, I included a picture of a sculpture named "Cow Up A Tree" because during flood events, cows can become stuck in trees. I thought it was quite silly at the time, but I just read a story from a farmer in Western Australia who has seen some of his cows stuck up trees. Not so funny any more.

But back to Queensland. The point of my posting this was to tell you a) about the floods and b) to tell you you can help. All you have to do is go here and donate to the flood relief appeal. Some people have lost everything and it's going to take a long time to put it right. The floods aren't over yet - new areas keep coming under threat and some towns are still underwater. Just this morning, I read that a town up the coast from me in Tasmania has been flooded. Not Queensland, but it does show that this flooding isn't over yet. A cyclone seems to be forming off the Queensland coast too, which is going to cause even more problems.

You know what got me though? The international coverage. The flooding started weeks ago. It's got progressively worse, yes, but it started weeks ago. I remember seeing Rockhampton inundated on the news before New Year. Obviously, the coverage in Australia has been ongoing since it began, but the international media only seem to have picked it up in the last week. And yet, when Europe and the US were having ridiculously cold temperatures and vast quantities of snow, it got covered on Australian news. So why on earth does it seem to have taken so long for everyone else to notice the floods. Let me repeat those comparisons again - an area roughly twice the size of Texas is affected. That's HUGE. How has there been so little coverage outside of Australia? Ah well, no point in complaining.

Weather's fun, isn't it...

Queensland Flood Appeal donations here.