THE FLOOD OF 'BIBLICAL' PROPORTIONS

Some call this the worst flood in Queensland since 1974- a disaster of biblical proportions. Lots of homes, shops, offices, schools awash and inundated in flood water in many districts of Queensland. Just 2 days ago, Brisbane got hit as well. Here's the clip of just how bad things can get. Man against nature, this is truly one of the best reminders of the fragility of humanity in modern Australia. My heart goes out to those who lost their homes, loved ones, pets, and belongings. In Toowoomba, a district not too far away from here, many people never took flood insurance because they thought they were living in high areas, non-susceptible to flood disasters. So, they were literally caught by surprise and left with virtually nothing. The clip of the cars floating down the river is in Toowomba.

Sad sight .. but then hey, somebody took the opportunity to have some wet 'n' wild fun at the end of the clip!!?? There's the oz spirit for you... ride the waves and the water, dude... coz tomorrow is another day...

NATURAL AIRCOND

AND FINALLY... some cooler weather this week. Tonight is registering 17C coldest, now at 19C in GC. Free air-conditioning...Nice, not too extreme, We are officially on Fall season now. I love it like this... with gentle breeze blowing all night. Hope it stays this way for some time....

RAIN, RAIN COME AGAIN

It's rainy season now in Gold Coast- already November, time flies. We are ushering into summer and that's when it gets hotter and rainy, but we are thankful for the rain for it cools down the air. Been raining almost daily, which is quite a lot after all the dry season we had in winter and spring. The only thing I am not looking forward to is it that it breeds weeds in the garden and I have to get back to weeding.. not my fave exactly..

DUST STORM MAY DROP 2ND LOAD...

Oh, oh not good.. just saw the sky turning yellow again. The 2nd dust storm may hit again tonite and we shall awaken to Armageddon skies again. so we are sleeping with all windows shut tight for tonite.. and why did I stupidly go wash my car this morning... for what????

The air feels thick and heavy like dust creeping in... yikes... Lord please send the rain.. we pray...

It seems that this was an 8 year build-up of drought which bundled up sand, dust and all into a heap in the atmosphere. The minute there was a huge wind, all these particles were sent all over. Places all over had looked creepy like Mars or Armageddon-style..Planes could not take off or land...

YELLOW YELLOW DIRTY FELLOW

Yesterday had the strangest experience since our move here to Gold Coast. A major dust-storm coming from New South Wales hit Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney as well many other places. I woke up in the morning to see the sky was an unusual yellow colour.. hmm what was this, I thot? Haze? From Indonesia/.... that potent?? Cannot be...How strange... I tried to smell the air for smoke, but could not detect much burning smell, just felt thick, dense and yucky kinda feeling. I did see people lopping off trees along the road, and I thot maybe a major storm was on its way but why the colour? While we were on our way to visit Mum Beryl who was ill at the Gold Coast Hospital, the wind suddenly whipped up and we found ourselves fighting our way into the hospital!! It felt like a sandstorm, but not so strong... the sun was blue or whitish blue in colour, visibility was really poor, our eyes smarted, and noses were acting up..

When we went back later that day, I found to my horror, dust was everywhere in the house as well!! I did a major cleaning session dust-busting the whole house! Vaccuum, mop, wash, change bed linens just to get the dust off... Next time, I've learnt my lesson well- if yellow-looking sky ever appears, do not leave the house with windows open,,, even for 1 cm apart!! AARGH! Jordan and daddy had to lift their feet up while I frantically mopped the floor, nobody move, nobody step anywhere till I am done...while I declared war on dust in the house... Today, was so glad to see the skies blue again. Thank God for fresh and clean air again...

RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY

It's been raining non-stop since Wednesday, never seen rain like this b4. I mean literally all day long, non-stop, deluge of downpour. Yesterday, picked up Jordan amidst some drama of screaming children who were trying to avoid the rain being blown in by the strong gusts of wind. Some people's umbrellas got ripped off and times like these, I am grateful for my free PETRONAS SUPER king size umbrella.

Wet, miserable May Day..... and May Day it is, because this is the worst flooding in 35 years & has prompted the Government to declare a state of emergency in southeast Queensland. The declared disaster area takes in the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast and areas west to, and including, the Toowoomba region. The state had its wettest 24 hours in 17 years. here's the satellite view...

Hundreds of roads were cut off, trapping children at school. The flood forced evacuations, brought down power lines and filled dams to overflowing. One person was killed by debris in his own office when an awning smashed into the glass at Surfers Paradise. Some places no power supply - abt 5000 residents affected. More than 200 students and staff were trapped overnight at schools in Brisbane's west too. Late yesterday, more than 50 streets in Brisbane were closed. well, as I write this, the rain has stopped, hallelujah! now can go get some groceries. Yes, I have the power of rain -blogging (blocking). ....!

'THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW' STORM IN GOLD COAST

Now, does that look like a disaster movie or what? SOMETHING like 'THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW' kinda storm, that's what happened yesterday. Storm clouds descended upon the Gold Coast yesterday afternoon in a scene that looked somewhat like that film. Then heavy rain struck after 5 pm. At least 1700 homes and businesses were without power from about 4.30pm, with the Runaway Bay and Hollywell areas hit worst. About 1000 homes and businesses had their power cut off in the area for three hours before it was restored at 8.24pm. An electronic sign at Robina's Easy T Centre and a power pole in Carrara also caught fire due to lightning strikes about 4.45pm. So now... I realised what happened to my oven. It got zapped too.. can't bake dinner anymore....boo hoo..

CYCLONE HAMISH

Yup, almost bashed our shores, this naughty boy,, Cyclone Hamish is his name, but today thankfully it, was downgraded to Level 2 (DANGER GRADE) from Level 4 just a couple of days back. It was expected to hit southern Queensland shores and northern NSW and huge ocean swelled along the state's southern coast. Evacuation plans were already underway. Beaches were closed in Gold Coast and to remain closed until the weekend. There has been severe erosion of Sunshine Coast beaches from the wild weather, with Mooloolaba and Noose beaches the worst affected. But thank God the biggest danger has passed. Sad though, some fishermen on their trawlers were lost at sea though, survival chances slim.

This land and its extreme weather makes me dizzy......

209 DEATH TOLL FOR VIC BUSHFIRES

So sad, 209 is such a high number for fire disaster in the bushlands. It seems so devastating to have such a high no. of deaths in this day and age. Werent there any warnings? Why couldn't they escape on time? Or were they just stubbornly staying on to salvage their material possessions?

Now, four large fires continue to burn across Victoria as authorities warn the threat of new fires will be high this weekend. The warning came as the death toll from the devastating February 7 firestorm rose to 209.

Fire authorities on Friday said the bushfire threat remained high, with no significant rain forecast and fuel loads continuing to dry out. The combination of hot weather, northerly winds and the chance of lightning has pushed the fire danger warning to high and could increase fire activity over the weekend and Monday. God, have mercy on the land!

AUSTRALIAN BUSHFIRE

Pray for Australia, the land is coming under crisis. The death toll of bushfires in Victoria & NSW has reached 200 to date. Unpredictable winds are helping winds tear thru southwestern australia at a scary pace. They need rain and grace, lots of it at this time. My heart goes out to the homeless and those who lost loved ones. They were caught off guard, some couldn't run in time.

The sickening fact is that some of the fires were started by arsonists (labelled as 'firebugs') Kevin Rudd calls them mass murderers and labelled the burnt places as 'crime scenes' and places visited by hell. We need a miracle to save the land - like sudden rain, lots of it....

AUSTRALIA FIGHTING FIRE & WATER

BURNT TO THE GROUND.. whatever that's left of 500 homes lost at Kinglake

SO... what on earth is happening to this country? Am new to this land, but is this normal at this time of year to see different natural disasters like that happening? Bush fires across VICTORIA state.. the worst it seems, since 1983. The death toll from horrific bushfires across Victoria this weekend has reached 84, surpassing the number of people who perished in the 1983 Ash Wednesday blazes. Temperatures in Melbourne and certain parts went up to as high as 46 degrees celsius!

More than 700 homes have been lost in what is being described as 'Hell on Earth', and it is feared the death toll will pass 100. Twenty-six fires continue to burn across Victoria; 12 of those are out of control. Authorities suspect arsonists are responsible for some fires.

Firemen are battling wildfires in south-eastern Australia that have killed at least 108 people. The area is experiencing one of its worst heatwaves in decades.

The Kinglake Complex blaze continues to burn out of control and so far has burnt through more than 220,000 hectares. Communities around Glenburn, Taggerty and Rubicon are being urged to remain alert for any threats to their homes.

The federal and Victorian governments have set up a Bushfire Relief Fund and $10 million in Centrelink payments for victims.

In QUEENSLAND, they are fighting water instead. Flash floods, and heavy torrential rain in north Queensland has pushed floodwaters at town of Ingham higher..,caused by tropical ex-cyclone Ellie dumped torrential rain across north Queensland. And to make matters worse, farmers fear the rain and floods that have affected two-thirds of Queensland will devastate the beef industry in some regions, while sugarcane growers are also bracing for heavy losses.TENS of thousands of cattle stranded by floods in Queensland have been left to starve because owners cannot drop feed to them and state authorities say they are powerless to act. For sure, beef & milk prices going to shoot up.... NOT GOOD ...hope the smoke and water clears up soon.........it is sorta like 2 tight slaps on the face at the same time... environmentally and economically.

EPISODE 12: HAILSTORM!

Today was stormy weather, and heavy showers everywhere on Gold Coast. Jordan told me after school that he and his friends saw 'ice cubes' falling from sky, I thought he was joking. Then, it happened at about 5pm today - the rain came and sounded pretty noisy so I looked out the door, and to our surprise, it was actually raining hail, showers of mini ping pong-like ice balls falling everywhere.

A small hailstorm but rather fascinating to watch, .. this is probably as close as it gets to snow in Gold Coast.... here's how it looks like....