Queensland Floods

[alzo]

Hey All,
Don't know if you've seen it on the news, but please spare a thought for queensland. We are in a dire situation, massive floods, many dead. The water is literally 1 meter from my door step and will peak in 5 hours. If you can afford to donate please do. Donate to the flood relief appeal : Queensland Government
Cheers guys

 

[pixelsmith]

It is very unfortunate what is happening, it never ceases to amaze me when people choose to live in flood zones or at the base of a volcano...

 

[Kandinsky]

It is very unfortunate what is happening, it never ceases to amaze me when people choose to live in flood zones or at the base of a volcano...

Most major towns and cities are sited on the banks of large rivers and/or coastal areas. Paris, London, New York and many more are on flood plains. It's a cost/benefit trade-off with flood plains having fertile land and trading access.

What's happened in Brisbane can probably happen to most of us.

 

[JD Thompson]

Correct. FEMA's website has overlay maps showing the 100 to 500 year flood plains for the US. Most every major metro lies within one. Our cities were founded when access to farmland, timber, and river trade routes over-rode flood worries.

 

[pixelsmith]

Most major towns and cities are sited on the banks of large rivers and/or coastal areas. Paris, London, New York and many more are on flood plains. It's a cost/benefit trade-off with flood plains having fertile land and trading access.

What's happened in Brisbane can probably happen to most of us.

Yes I understand that, but I bet you do not find many native americans or other indigenous people with permanent dwellings next to a river.

 

[Kandinsky]

Yes I understand that, but I bet you do not find many native americans or other indigenous people with permanent dwellings next to a river.

Well there's not much left of Native American settlements to discuss...the reservations were chosen for them. Off the top of my head, Cahokia springs to mind...in the middle of the Mississippi flood plain.

Indigenous people is kind of a strawman in the sense that it's ill-defined. The indigenous Europeans have built their cities on the banks of rivers. Or do you mean indigenous like Australian aborigines? In that example, they didn't have many permanent settlements to compare. There are remains of settlements along the coast though.

Look at the Ganges, Euphrates, Nile or even the Seine...indigenous people building permanent settlements that have grown into towns and cities.

People have always settled close to rivers and coastlines...being at risk of flood is inevitable.

 

[JD Thompson]

Poverty Point, in north eastern Louisiana, represents one of, if not the, largest example of the Mound Builder culture. It was inhabited for centuries, by many thousands of Native Americans, who traded as far as the Great Lakes. Sits right square in the middle of the Ouachita and Mississippi flood plain.

 

[pixelsmith]

Native Americans were largely nomadic, they could pack everything up and be gone within a couple hours. As i understand it they became less nomadic went the bison herds were nearly wiped out. The less nomadic tribes were fairly unsuccessful in their semi-permanent dwellings.

 

[Xylo]

Native Americans were largely nomadic, they could pack everything up and be gone within a couple hours. As i understand it they became less nomadic went the bison herds were nearly wiped out. The less nomadic tribes were fairly unsuccessful in their semi-permanent dwellings.

You do realize that the natives of which you speak were the plains tribes right? Sioux, Comanche, Cheyenne, Crow, Pawnee and many more. There were Native American tribes throughout the entirety of North America. They weren't all nomads nor did they all depend upon the bison.

Regardless, what Australia is experiencing is a generational flood and it's quite tragic. I've been keeping those Aussies in my thoughts.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

Hey All,
Don't know if you've seen it on the news, but please spare a thought for queensland. We are in a dire situation, massive floods, many dead. The water is literally 1 meter from my door step and will peak in 5 hours. If you can afford to donate please do. Donate to the flood relief appeal : Queensland Government
Cheers guys

Hey alzo. I hope that you and your family are ok. My thoughts go out to you in this terrible time. My partner has family in those areas and it is a nervous time for all.

---------- Post added at 01:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------

It is very unfortunate what is happening, it never ceases to amaze me when people choose to live in flood zones or at the base of a volcano...

That's a pretty stupid statement. People are constrained to where they can afford to live theses days. If you are in a lower income bracket you can only afford to live within that. If that means living in a flood prone area then so be it. Also being close to where you work or transport to such. I'm talking mainly about Brisbane which is only now experiencing the full force of the deluge.

You also have to understand the scale of the crisis. The state of Queensland is more than twice the size of Texas and some reports say nearly 2 thirds of the state are under water. Or put another way a land mass larger than the size of France and Germany combined is currently under water.

 

[pixelsmith]

That's a pretty stupid statement. People are constrained to where they can afford to live theses days. If you are in a lower income bracket you can only afford to live within that. If that means living in a flood prone area then so be it. Also being close to where you work or transport to such. I'm talking mainly about Brisbane which is only now experiencing the full force of the deluge.

If you live by a river or a volcano you can expect problems. If you have problems don't bitch about it. Duh.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

If you live by a river or a volcano you can expect problems. If you have problems don't bitch about it. Duh.

Well i don't hear any of those people complaining about anything, dickhead! They are just trying to get on with the monumental tasks ahead of them.
You really are an insensitive moron aren't you! I suppose you said the same thing about New Orleans and every time a tornado takes out a town or city in and around Kansas you're there berating the poor folks for living there.
Sometimes people don't have a choice where they live. Not everybody can afford to be so mindful as to select the area they live in so as to avoid floods, fire or volcanoes etc. Some people can barely afford to live anywhere. They take the first place available at times.
I truly hope that you don't live any place where a natural disaster could wipe you out.
Apart from that, your comment was totally uncalled for and unnecessary. You seem to want confrontation at every turn. You get reamed for your incessant global warming tirades, your attempts at proving that chemtrails are real and now you are berating people for getting wiped out by floods. You have shown yourself to be a complete fuckwit on other threads in these forums and your latest comment has just confirmed that.

 

[alzo]

Thanks Phil,Hope your family are safe. Obviously this guy doesn't get it and probably lives on a sunny mountain in paradise, surrounded by cute birds and bunnies.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

Thanks Phil,Hope your family are safe. Obviously this guy doesn't get it and probably lives on a sunny mountain in paradise, surrounded by cute birds and bunnies.

No worries alzo. I think they are all safe at the moment and we have been keeping in constant communication with them. The death toll is rising every day as more and more people reported missing are being found. Some had no time to get away it happened that quickly.
The ramifications for the Australian economy is going to be huge also. Food prices have been tipped to rise by 50% or more in the coming weeks. Also insurance costs are going to sky rocket.

 

[Han]

First I want to send my condolences to all people affected by the flooding.

@pixelsmith "It is very unfortunate what is happening, it never ceases to amaze me when people choose to live in flood zones or at the base of a volcano..."

I would like to know what you did to make you you? in other words how did you choose to be born to the parents you were born to?
The point is you did not have, like every one else, a choice in when, where or what you were born.
If you have access to the means to enjoy freedom of movement (Country, State, Continent etc.) you are one of the "privileged" of the world, but you are still part of it (the world).
It is inevitable that all people will suffer loss of some kind, be it illness, accident, disaster or an infinite list of causes and one of the things that helps the people left behind is sympathy.
It doesnt cost anything and is not limited in terms of amount.
If I am totally honest it makes me angry that you would choose to attack people when they are down, the motivation can not come from a good place, so I extend my sypathy to you also.

I could write another 100 lines about why humanity has always shown preference to inhabiting areas close to "fresh water". But its all too obvious to anyone unsympathetic or not!

 

[pixelsmith]

Well i don't hear any of those people complaining about anything, dickhead! They are just trying to get on with the monumental tasks ahead of them.
You really are an insensitive moron aren't you! I suppose you said the same thing about New Orleans and every time a tornado takes out a town or city in and around Kansas you're there berating the poor folks for living there.
Sometimes people don't have a choice where they live. Not everybody can afford to be so mindful as to select the area they live in so as to avoid floods, fire or volcanoes etc. Some people can barely afford to live anywhere. They take the first place available at times.
I truly hope that you don't live any place where a natural disaster could wipe you out.
Apart from that, your comment was totally uncalled for and unnecessary. You seem to want confrontation at every turn. You get reamed for your incessant global warming tirades, your attempts at proving that chemtrails are real and now you are berating people for getting wiped out by floods. You have shown yourself to be a complete fuckwit on other threads in these forums and your latest comment has just confirmed that.

Dickhead? Look pal, I have helped cleanup after Katrina, I have helped cleanup after tornados and flooding in the midwest including my own home town. I understand where you are coming from but you dont know shit about where i am coming from.

I stand by my statement. Live by a river or volcano and you should EXPECT problems. DUH.

---------- Post added at 10:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:14 PM ----------

First I want to send my condolences to all people affected by the flooding.

@pixelsmith "It is very unfortunate what is happening, it never ceases to amaze me when people choose to live in flood zones or at the base of a volcano..."

I would like to know what you did to make you you? in other words how did you choose to be born to the parents you were born to?
The point is you did not have, like every one else, a choice in when, where or what you were born.
If you have access to the means to enjoy freedom of movement (Country, State, Continent etc.) you are one of the "privileged" of the world, but you are still part of it (the world).
It is inevitable that all people will suffer loss of some kind, be it illness, accident, disaster or an infinite list of causes and one of the things that helps the people left behind is sympathy.
It doesnt cost anything and is not limited in terms of amount.
If I am totally honest it makes me angry that you would choose to attack people when they are down, the motivation can not come from a good place, so I extend my sypathy to you also.

I could write another 100 lines about why humanity has always shown preference to inhabiting areas close to "fresh water". But its all too obvious to anyone unsympathetic or not!

Dude. I did NOT "attack" anyone. I help with first responders in my area. I traveled to New Orleans to help in the 9th ward. I am not insensitive to people involved in natural disasters. I only stated what should be a no brainer. If you live in these area, expect problems.

 

[ALPHA ROMEO UNIFORM]

Sending best wishes to fellow Aussies in Eastern States keep safe folks. Also sending condolences to all those families who have lost family members who have perished in this natural disaster.

If you build by the river or ocean make sure you build up on higher ground its common sense.

Mind you land developers have to shoulder blame as well as councils for giving them to go ahead in building close to water ways. Greed seems to forgone common sense.

Lets hope the insurance companies show compassion but it very likely they need to run a business and people are numbers to them they would go belie up if they payed out all the claims sending the Nation into a tailspin.

No quick solutions just lots of hardship for all those folks and look at Katrina what lessons have been learn? Lets hope the nation rallies and not becomes divided.

Peace

 

[The Pair of Cats]

Dickhead? Look pal, I have helped cleanup after Katrina, I have helped cleanup after tornados and flooding in the midwest including my own home town. I understand where you are coming from but you dont know shit about where i am coming from.

I stand by my statement. Live by a river or volcano and you should EXPECT problems. DUH.

If you have helped people cleanup after Katrina then you should know how stressful and trying those times are. Thoughtless comments are absolutely uncalled for and extremely insensitive.
People should expect problems living near rivers or volcanoes? No shit Sherlock. A lot of those people affected have been through floods before but some of the towns that were inundated have never seen floods before and definitely not on the scale seen in this disaster.

There was just no need for you to make the comments you did. What would the people in New Orleans have said if you had made those same comments while you were helping them out? A few weeks of lying in a hospital bed in traction? I bet you kept your mouth shut there. You leave it to internet forums to run off at the mouth.
I stand by by my assessment of your actions in this thread: "You really are an insensitive moron aren't you!"

 

[pixelsmith]

If you have helped people cleanup after Katrina then you should know how stressful and trying those times are. Thoughtless comments are absolutely uncalled for and extremely insensitive.
People should expect problems living near rivers or volcanoes? No shit Sherlock. A lot of those people affected have been through floods before but some of the towns that were inundated have never seen floods before and definitely not on the scale seen in this disaster.

There was just no need for you to make the comments you did. What would the people in New Orleans have said if you had made those same comments while you were helping them out? A few weeks of lying in a hospital bed in traction? I bet you kept your mouth shut there. You leave it to internet forums to run off at the mouth.
I stand by by my assessment of your actions in this thread: "You really are an insensitive moron aren't you!"

I DO know how stressful those times are. Did i say anything to the contrary. There IS need for someone to say something about it as well and I make my statement because of the comments I heard in New Orleans. Many didn't think they could be flooded out even tho they were BELOW sea level. That always shocked me when i heard it. Many in the 9th ward didnt blame Katrina, they blamed whoever blasted the levees. Yes, they claim someone placed charges on the levees.

 

[pixelsmith]

Thought I would add a photo of the Brisbane floods, 1893.

Young boys take the opportunity to play in the floodwaters in the business heart of Brisbane. Other people use rowboats- the only sure mode of transport during the floods.