9 Dec 2010: CityCat on the Brisbane River. A few days after this photo was taken, I spent a couple of hours riding down the Brisbane River on a CityCat with my friend Sian (photos to be posted later). Flooding on 12 Jan 2011 (Brisbane time) has wrecked most of the CityCat & ferry docks, & damaged many boats — reports are it'll take months to rebuild the CityCat & ferry systems.
Most of my tweets today are retweets of sources close to the flooding in Brisbane & nearby areas in Queensland. @couriermail is a Brisbane newspaper; @QPSmedia is the Queenland Police Service. Note that this post is dated 11 January, but the date for Brisbane for all original tweets was 12 January (since Bris is just five hours short of a full day ahead of Alaska, where I am). I haven’t retweeted everything they’ve said — but those relating to places/things that I know from my recent time in Brisbane. As I tweet later, it’s a strange way to watch the progression of a disaster. But of course I’ve also been actually reading those sources I listed in my previous Queensland floods post.
And meantime I know that all my friends are safe. I heard from OzMud by email this morning: she & her husband are both doing fine. Their house in Ipswich was not among the flooded, but they’ve experienced a number of power outages. You can read her accounts of flooding at her blog, Oz Mudflats.
I’ve heard no specific updates about the animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, but there have been two posts on Lone Pine’s Facebook wall thanking sanctuary staff for assistance rendered by way of a care package of food & water given to a man stranded on his yacht on the river yesterday. Which squares with the tremendous (& professional) assistance rendered by Lone Pine staff when OzMud had her medical emergency the day I was at Lone Pine with her in December. Amazing, great people! I reckon the animals are well-taken care of too. Undoubtedly staff are simply too busy taking care of them to update their Facebook page.
Update 2, 12 Jan, 4:30 PM (Alaska time): Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary has just tweeted and updated its Facebook page as follows:
The Brisbane River is expected to peak at 4:00 AM Brisbane time on Thursday, 13 January — which translates as 9:00 AM Alaska time on Wednesday the 12th.
- Stay safe Brisbane, Ipswich, all the rest of Queensland, & everybody there. May the rains end and the floods ebb. #fb #
- @redrummy My tweets become FB statuses only if I add hashtag (# plus fb) which I’m not doing this tweet, so it won’t show up as a status. in reply to redrummy #
- @redrummy I use a FB app called Selective Tweets. I normally don’t make retweets or replies to other people’s tweets into FB statuses. in reply to redrummy #
- @redrummy Got it. Cool. in reply to redrummy #
- RT @couriermail Suncorp Stadium on fire after emrrgency svcs reported inundated transformer shorting out ~30min ago #bnefloods #qldfloods #
- RT: @couriermail: Brisbane 2100 streets, 19700 residences 3500 commercial props will exp flooding across entire prprty #bnefloods #qldfloods #
- @couriermail reports Toowong among areas hardest hit so far in Brisbane. One of my friends works in Toowong. #qldfloods #bnefloods in reply to couriermail #
- RT: @couriermail: MOST of Brisbane CBD shut down in prep for impending flood. Both Myer Centre and Queens Plaza closed #bnefloods #qldfloods #
- RT: @QPSmedia: Police responding to a transformer fire at Suncorp Stadium #thebigwet #qldfloods #
- RT: @couriermail: 50 Brisbane suburbs to be hit #qldfloods #bnefloods http://bit.ly/e0c57s #
- RT: @couriermail: Brisbane bus services stopping around 1pm…. All rail probably out this afternoon too #bnefloods #qldfloods #
- RT: @QPSmedia: #MythBuster Suncorp Stadium is NOT on fire – Small fire is in isolated transformer room #QldFloods #bnefloods // Good news #
- @exart Hoping they’ll update their FB page w/ news. More flooding in NSW & Victoria too. in reply to exart #
- RT: @couriermail: South Bank Parklands closed… South Brisbane rail station closed but trains still going through #bnefloods #qldfloods in reply to couriermail #
- NZ Herald News: Support pouring in from around world w/ offers of help for Queensland as it battles w/ record floods http://bit.ly/ecIXXH #
- Flooding Australian state of Victoria too (Melbourne & vicinity): Floods, rockfalls close Great Ocean Road http://bit.ly/ehW0vL #
- RT: @couriermail: Sandbag city looks like ghost town (Brisbane CBD) http://bit.ly/gLsP5a #
- RT: @couriermail: Police moving onlookers away from CBD waterfront. Safe for now, but access roads likely to go under #bnefloods #qldfloods #
- RT: @QPSmedia: Water is now on the road at Albert Street and Alice Street in Brisbane CBD. Please avoid these areas #thebigwet #qldfloods #
- @nethenekhthon I won’t make it tonight. in reply to nethenekhthon #
- RT: @QPSmedia: Sandgate Road in Albion now cut by flood waters. Police currenlty on scene. Please avoid travel in this area. #qldfloods #
- RT: @QPSmedia: Brisbane Transport Buses will be winding down from 1pm due to flooding. Please leave the city now. #
- RT: @couriermail: Impressive! Google’s map has Brisbane flood level prediction, current Aust river levels etc http://ow.ly/3CejG #qldfloods #
- RT: @couriermail: Council consider destroying River Walk to stop it becoming a hazard if it floats off piles #bnefloods #qldfloods // wow #
- RT: @couriermail: BCC: Brisbane’s water is still safe to drink and does not need to be boiled before consumption. #qldfloods #bnefloods #
- I’ve been picking #qldfloods #bnefloods RTs per places/things I know in Brisbane. Strange way to watch progression of this disaster. #
- Riverwalk has gone under. #qldfloods on Twitpic http://t.co/bEZkiFZ via @AddThis #
