Too close for comfort

[zafra52]

I know you all have seen more spectacular and better pictures than the ones
below, but what drives me to this scene two streets away from where I live
is strange calm and eerie silence that reins in it.



The bottom of my street...







Other pictures from my street and environs :

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~zafra52/

[biggerry]

Zafra52, that first image just says it all to me - the mere fact that the water is bobbing around the level of the walk/no walk indicator on the traffic lights conveys the depth of the water and the disaster...

I hope all is well up there (as much as it can be) and people are safe.

[zafra52]

All seems well at Paddington (Brisbane), thanks. The local
community rose to the occasion and in the end they had to
turn people away because they had too many helpers and
people were getting on each other way. Last night the area
looked almost back to normal apart from the waste on the
kerbs and the smell.

Luckily there hasn't been any fatalities reported, but the police
caught a young kid looting. At our household, we are well and
suffered only loss of power and phone connection. Our friends,
neighbours and relatives were all out of harm way.

Coming back to the first picture, above. It was an eerie feeling
of calm and silence and specially at night with no lights and no
sounds of birds, no flying foxes or crickets... in the middle of
such destruction and heartache.

On the positve side, I believe the leadership of the Premier,
Lord Mayor and the authorities coordinating the efforts and the
invaluable generosity and help of the rest of Australia significantly
contributed to avert a bigger and even more devastating tragedy.
I also feel that the rest of the world has something to learn from this
coordinated effort.