Project 365

I can’t believe I was complaining about the rain today, while thousands of people in Queensland have to go through one of the worst flood disasters in decades! I feel so selfish! 🙁

I want to share with you a great reporting video, showing how Brisbane was transformed into a sea. This is filmed mostly in Coronation Drive, a long road along the Brisbane River. You can see how high the water was. My alma mater, the University of Queensland, is seen badly flooded. It’s sad to see this video :(.

One of the comments on the video cracked me up!!!

johan: Great video! But where are the kangaroos?

xblghasm: they’ve become obselete because you can’t ride a kangaroo to work now because of the floods. We’re all riding sharks.

Steer clear of the stereotypes.

LOL!!!! 😀

The first three pictures below are the neighborhoods I frequently visited/passed by during my 4 years in Brisbane. And they were all completely under water! This picture was taken when the water hadn’t got to its peak of 5.5 meters yet! So, I’m bracing for more awful pictures first thing in midnight (or morning –  Brisbane time).

It’s hard breaking to see these pictures! I can’t explain how sad it is to see the news every single day.

Of course, this is my favorite picture ever. The statue of Wally Lewis, nicknamed The King, who was ready to go under! I love how the Aussies still have their sense of humor alive during this devastating moment!

The statue is located in front of the Suncorp Stadium, which is already flooded. The whole rugby stadium was filled with water.

Photos was taken from here. The photo of King Wally was taken from here.

Our street in Warren Street St Lucia in the Western Suburb of Brisbane is under water, we have been forced to evacuate to designated care centre..thank God we alive.
— Wama

My place is in the yellow zone so water will pass through a corner of my block but I am on the second floor so should be alright. and 1/4 of UQ either is or will be flooded soon. 
— Justin

I live in Indooroopilly, which is like a little hill next to St. Lucia, but I am just a bit surprised even Indooroopilly and some other suburbs on higher ground still get flooded. Like Toowoomba which is on top of the Toowoomba ranges (like on top of a mountain).
Went out for a walk last night, there are not many cars on the road, the news told us to stay at home and avoid unecessary travel.
And at the end of the day, went to woolies*, nearly all the bread and toilet paper were gone, apparently there won’t be any trucks resupplying them for a while… maybe I need to get some bread because most of my food is in the fridge, and if the power cuts off… oops…
I’ve seen some photos from St Lucia, like the whole Sir Fred Drive is under water… And the water is to rise further until it peaks on Thursday. So I am still waiting anxiously for the water to come. Oh, and the whole Brisbane is shut down till Friday.
— Justin

The floods in 1893 (bigger than 1974 flood) didn’t even reach this property apparently, so it should be okay unless it gets worse than them. We have packed stuff just in case. If something bad happens, we can run away anytime :) 
— Mayu

I’m at my parents’ house now in Kenmore, which is an unaffected suburb. I just have my fingers crossed for my apartment in Toowong which is not far from the Regatta hotel opposite the river! And my contents are uninsured 🙁
— Georgina

Alhamdulillah gw ga kena sih. Tapi daerah sekitar gw udah evakuasi. Insya allah ga papa lah ya..
— Kiki

Still waiting for updates from more friends…

The bottom line is: THE WORST IS YET TO HAPPEN! 🙁

(*) Note: "woolies" is short for Woolworths, a supermarket chain in Australia.

I seriously couldn’t sleep well today. I was too worried with the floods in Queensland. As expected, when I woke up, Brisbane was flooded already. The city (CBD) was closed and people were evacuated in some areas. The worst is yet to come. People are saying that the flood will be worse than the 1974 floods. The combined capacity of dams in Queensland is 100% and is overflowing.

It shocks me. I couldn’t stand looking at those pictures. I was there. I knew the area. The good thing is that Brisbane is not a flat city. There are some high-lying areas so if people can evacuate on time, they’ll be alright. And I have to say, I’m impressed by how the government is handling the disaster. Maps of low-lying areas were published so that people would stay alert. Authorities are ready to evacuate people before the floods reached the area. But as the flood now covers the area the size of France and Germany combines, I fear the worst un-imaginable situations could happen.

Thankfully, my friends have been sending me updates and they are okay. Those who haven’t sent me any news, I can just pray for them :(. If you have time, please pray for those in Queensland!

This is a video titled “Jakarta in Jeopardy”. It was uploaded about 2 years ago but I’ve never watched this til now. It’s very interesting. I always heard about how Jakarta could be sinking in few years time and I didn’t know if this argument came from experts / scientists or from people speculating on those issues 😛

But in this video, my doubts were cleared. Jakarta is indeed sinking. The city is expected to be about 1 meter lower than the current position — thanks to the ground water extraction done by most households and business as well as industrial giants in Jakarta. When a city develops, it gets heavier. As much water from the ground gets extracted, the whole city gets pushed downwards. So this can also be the reason why Jakarta is flooded during the time when no rains fall. Because of the sinking Jakarta — it sinks below sea level, unfortunately.

The flood that frequently occurs in Jakarta is also caused by two main reasons: urban development and rubbish. Development can’t seem to stop, every 2 years I go back to Jakarta, I always see new huge buildings or malls built. It fascinates me how fast Jakarta grows. But unfortunately, the rate of Jakarta’s maintenance runs slower than its development. And our government doesn’t seem to care about this. Can we safe our Jakarta?

According to Wikipedia, The Netherlands is a geographically low-lying country, with about 20% of its area and 21% of its population located below sea level, with 50% of its land lying less than one metre above sea level. But somehow, the canals and rivers are clean, free of garbage, and most importantly have never caused any floods for the past 40-50 years! Amazing, isn’t it?

I myself think that Jakarta is not “livable” anymore. It’s waaaaay too crowded! Let’s just move to another city then 😛