Thanks so much Ann! I always was a "writer" at heart, but don't find the time to do so these days. I guess it just flows so much easier when you write from the heart.
I think I may blog this actually, now that you suggested it, it might be a way to show the world a different take on things... Tan.x. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ann Sanfedele Sent: Thursday, 13 January 2011 1:16 PM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Queensland Floods Tan - it is good to know you and those close to you are about as ok as one can expect and I'm sure I'm not alone among our listmates when I say what you wrote here, below, was just a splendid piece of real journalism, IMHO. Well know you could take pics, but who knew you could write so well? Brava. It was so much more meaningful and strong than a lot of vid clips and sound bites that are broadcast. Think about putting it a blog or offering it to International Public Radio to be read. stay safe - and keep kepping your chin up -- oh, maybe that is just a little too apt a metaphor.. Best, ann Tanya Love wrote: >Hi guys! > >Thanks so much for your concern! We are high and dry, thankfully. I >have largely been offline and just FB'ing on my iphone as we have been >told to conserve water/power etc as much as possible. I have been >tempted to get out and take some pics but just can't bring myself to do >it as there is so much suffering going on and the government is imploring people not to do so. >My husband works in the city in one of the worst affected areas of >flooding at the biggest hospital in the state. Due to a few >emergencies, he was required to stay back amongst it all whilst our >(uninsured!) car was parked right in the middle of the flood zone. I >was very panicked cause if we lose that car, we are buggered, with five >kids and all. I was also freaking out that he would try and be a hero >and get to it somehow (it is a raised 4wd so could most likely be >driven out if he could reach it). Anyways, as it turned out, he had to >walk through waist deep water to get to it, but was able to save it and >get back to the hospital in time to assist a lady delivering a 25 week >old baby via emergency c-section. It is not known if the baby will >survive. :( > >That pales in comparison though to another story that was just >publicised in the area of Grantham (where almost all of the fatalities >have been, and continue to be discovered). A lady gave birth to her >baby on her kitchen bench with her husband standing in knee deep water >to deliver it. Then all three of them had to spend the night on the >bench as the water rose around them. Thankfully, they were airlifted >to safety early in the morning, just as the water was about to consume them. How's that for an amazing story? > >It is sunny and bright here today. A typical summer's day. Dry around >our house and our suburb. It is a surreal thing to know that if I got >in the car and drove for 10minutes, I would be entering a veritable war >zone and witnessing utter destruction and tragedy. There are >helicopters constantly going over to remind us of it, and yet, if it >wasn't for the empty supermarket shelves and the fact that we now have >to boil our drinking water, things would be oddly normal for us. > >Yesterday, when dropping my husband at work between tides, I made a >wrong turn and ended up on a one way street over the bridge to >Southbank/West End, due to road closures. I had two of my kids in the >car and it completely freaked me out as I don't know the area well at >the best of times and trying to find a dry road to turn down was scary. >It took me an hour and a half to navigate the suburb just to find a way back to the bridge and to safety. >It was in the peak time as the water was rising heading to high tide >and I was really scared when the gravity of it hit me. > >Things to note that you might not understand in the US - there is two >lots of flooding that you may be seeing on the news. One is the flash >flooding that occurred in the Toowoomba/Withcott/Grantham/Marburg area. >This is where the fatalities have occurred as it was described as an >"inland tsunami" and not only was everything wet/muddy, but it was >violent and destructive too. The images/stories that you are seeing of >people trapped in cars etc are from this event. It is true that they >won't be finding many of the victims for coming days as due to >continued rain in the area, recovery operations weren't able to access >them. It is a sad fact that yes, there were entire families trapped in >cars and possibly drowned. :( One particularly heartbreaking story was >of a family of a mum and her 10 year old and 13 year old boys being >rescued from a vehicle. The 13 year old told the rescuer to save his >little brother first, which they did, and the 13 year old and his mum >were subsequently drowned. Another was of a family being rescued in a >boat and their life-jacket wearing 4 year old fell over the side and >was swept away and drowned. I can't think of any more insurmountable horror in my mind then seeing my 4 year old baby swept away >and drowned in raging flood waters. I had to stop myself from watching the >news after hearing this one, to say that it is heartbreaking is an >understatement. > >So, the second type of flooding is what Brisbane/Ipswich is >experiencing now. It is a result of all of our creek/catchment systems >converging and carrying downstream the masses of water that has >accumulated from other flooded regions. All of this water is trying to >get out to sea, and basically, Brisbane is in the way. Brisbane is >built over and around the river that is carrying all of this water, and >the banks are/were unable to contain it thus, it is seeping out into >the city/suburbs. This is the flooding that I witnessed in >Southbank/West End yesterday. It is an eerie thing. All of the power has been cut, so the suburbs are really quiet. >People were just standing around watching the water as it was rising >silently and engulfing their lives. It was almost like a fog sweeping >in, just menacingly edging in and bit by bit covering everything in its path. > >Thirdly, the thing with Brisbane is that the Brisbane River is tidal. >So, there are continued "peaks" with each tide. And, between tides, >the flooding drops significantly, only to return again 12 hours later. >The peak that occurred at 4am this morning was due to this, and was >considered to be the highest that the water levels will come up. Then, >at high tide this afternoon, it will be up again but not as high as >this morning, and with each high tide subsequently, it will be lower >than the previous one, until it starts to pull away from the areas not normally flooded. > >This experience for us anyways, in some ways has been similar to our >experience of 9/11, in that we are kind of outside observers but glued >to the television/internet, not wanting to turn away for a second in >case it suddenly changes and heads in our direction. It has commanded >our full attention and basically rendered us all incapable of >continuing every day tasks, even though we are still dry, if that makes >any sense? Obviously the after effects and global scale of it are >nowhere near the same as 9/11, but I am sure you get what I mean. We >are thanking our lucky stars, just as we were during 9/11 that we are >where we are and that not being able to buy groceries and having to boil our drinking water is as bad as it gets for us. >Personally, I am also very relieved that my older kids are visiting >their Dad in North Qld at the moment, so are completely unaffected by it all. > >We are planning on taking it in turns to go into the city and volunteer >in recovery efforts in coming days, as one of us will always need to be >here with the kids, as we really want to help. It is hard though as >many of my clients are interstate/international and are still demanding >photos on deadlines, not realising the full gravity of what we are >experiencing here at the moment. > >The thing is though, whilst so much media attention is on Brisbane, >with it being the state capital, there are many other towns since >Christmas that have been in dire straits (such as Rockhampton/Emerald >where my mother/family live), and the rainfall that we have been >experiencing has now moved southward and will be creating havoc in NSW, >VIC and SA now. We also have alerts out now about gastro/mosquito >related illnesses/disease, so I guess we have all of that fun to look forward to in coming weeks too. > >Thanks again guys/gals, we are safe, which is much more than many of my >friends/family are! > >Hugs, >Tan.x. > >-----Original Message----- >From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of >Stan Halpin >Sent: Thursday, 13 January 2011 11:21 AM >To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List >Subject: Re: Queensland Floods > >I only rarely log onto Facebook, but just went there to check on >Tanya's current status. (Which is as good as can be expected. There was >a scare that her husband might not make it home from work through >flooded streets but he and the car made it.) While there I noted a post >from Jay Taylor. The fundraising for his daughter's funeral (and her >son's future expenses) continues. Go here http://funds.gofundme.com/1nuo0 to donate. > >stan > >On Jan 12, 2011, at 6:31 AM, Mark Roberts wrote: > > > >>Tan has been posting comments on Facebook. The's still above the water >>line at last report. >> >> >> > >-- >PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >[email protected] >http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and >follow the directions. > > > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
