Australia Floods
We've all been watching the devastation of the Queensland floods over the past week – so much heartache and loss. So it was almost surreal to learn on Thursday that my own hometown in central Victoria was on flood alert – again. Regular blog readers may remember that the main street was flooded in September 2010, which at the time we thought was a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Not so.
The creek rose higher and higher and eventually burst its banks on Friday morning, inundating many homes and businesses. A couple of hours after the peak, I took this photo of the playground at the end of my street.
You can just see the top of the green slide poking out of the water.
And there have been scenes like this in so many other areas!
Unfortunately we had to cancel the team stamping day that I was talking about with much anticipation in my last post. The flood waters have now receded here (although our stamping venue is still being used as the Relief Centre!) but many others from our group were – and still are – affected. I heard amazing stories of people from other towns who'd been cut off from road access and were locked into their properties until the water receded, and others who had friends and family members with homes on flood alert.
When I spoke to one of the girls from Maryborough (hi Jenny!) she was actually working at the Relief Centre registering the hundreds of displaced people from nearby towns. There are so many people wanting to help, and it's heartwarming to see the Aussie spirit alive and well in communities all around the country – from Brisbane to the smallest communities in flood-ravaged Victoria.
Stampin' Up! also wants to help, and recently informed demonstrators that they will donate $2 from every stamp set sold until Feb 15th to the SES and flood relief.
Happy stamping,
HI Simone!
So glad to hear you escaped the flood waters … even though it affected your stamping day. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been inundated. I hope all are safe. Hugs xxaxx