A flood in G-town

People of G-town have been avoiding using the F word for eleven long years, but it seems 2011 is go down in the local history books as another Flood Year.

Master19 and I went downtown this morning to help a couple of businesses evacuate their premises. Depending on rain tonight there may be a lot more main street activity tomorrow, with waters currently at 14.39m and more rain forecast.

I admit, it has seemed odd watching the rest of Queensland going through ‘worst flood in history’ scenarios and G-town not leading the way, given our main street soaks up water like a sponge. But now we’ve given everyone else a decent start it seems we’re out of the starters block and catching up fast.

Gympie Times photo by Craig Warhurst

The Gympie Times – Flood January 2011 photos

Watching so many people pitching in to help shop owners and business people pack up their wares has been heartwarming. At my own work, which goes under at 19.89m, a customer came with a huge truck and has left it in our carpark ‘just in case’ we have to evacuate. It’s times like these I’m reminded why I love this town.

In light of the impending flood I did some emergency shopping on Friday night. Needless to say on the results of this shop I don’t think Anna will be putting me in charge the state’s emergency services any time soon. SHOPPING FAIL

Tracey and I did a little sight seeing this afternoon and took a few snaps I thought I’d share.

just the 3 of us – me, Tracey & my nose

Above pic shows trucks parked along Bruce Hwy, trapped by water across the highway.

Nice thing about a flood like the ones we get in G-town is they happen slowly enough to allow people to plan a bit and chew the fat with friends when you reconnect while they’re helping you move your stuff to higher ground. It’s a very social natural disaster and not at all messy like an earthquake, for example. I’ve never experienced one, but I imagine earthquakes are done and gone in seconds with no time to boil a kettle and gossip.

Here’s some photos I’ve lifted from other people’s FB pages 🙂 The following are courtesy of Luke, Karen, Tammy, Nicholas & Judi-Ann.