Flood-Proof Friday: Floods Again

The view from my upstairs verandah this morning

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me with her unpredictability. Just last week Gympie was officially declared a drought zone and farmers became eligible for much-needed assistance. Calves were being sold for a few dollars each because the cost of feed was just too high for many farmers to maintain. I also read earlier this week that, even though we were expecting some rain, Autumn rainfall would be below average - leaving not a lot of light at the end of the tunnel. Then you get thrown a curve-ball.

It has rained heavily here for the past few days. I estimate we have had over 200mls of rain in the past 48hrs. Because the creek was bone dry, and the forecasters only predicted minor flooding, I was not really expecting to be flooded today. I suspected the roads would be cut, and I would not be able to get to work, but in the top photo, the water is well past our power pole...which means the Six Mile Creek bridge is under water.

Our first job this morning was to rescue my little red car the boys drive around the farm in. It conveniently ran out of petrol at the bottom of our block, so...

...Paul and the boys towed it to higher ground.

The water is coming from the gully which surrounds our property. This side is well and truly overflowing, and the water level of Six Mile creek will determine whether it keeps coming onto our block. At the moment it is only a few metres from our house, and even though the creek is slowly falling, the water is still creeping towards our house.

That's the nature of floods. They are so unpredictable. It is the decision-making which is the most frustrating part though, at the moment. I have the kids downstairs cleaning out their rooms, and preparing to move their stuff upstairs....just in case.

You can just see the water through the trees here. This is where we have lost cars before, when there was little warning.

The rising water brings all sorts of rubbish from the creek onto our block. Some of it is stuff that washed into the gully in the last flood. The black blur in front is Puppy Bella, who runs like the wind.

Despite the threat, there is beauty to be seen during a flood. The birds are already enjoying their temporary lagoon.

This is the latest photo I took a few minutes ago and the water is now coming up from the back, which isn't a great sign. So, I am off to clear upstairs just in case we need to bring everything up...plus it needs to be done anyway. There is always a bright side :)

I hope you are having a wonderful day so far, and a little less adventurous than mine!

Flood-Proof Friday - Get Ready Update

It's been a while since I did a Flood-Proof Friday post. It's a segment of my blog that will always be here but I don't need to write about flooding every Friday - unless I have something important I want to say or express. Back in November I wrote about signing up for the Get Ready Queensland initiative which basically prepares you and your home over a period of fifty two weeks, for any natural disaster event. I thought I would recap what the weekly suggestions are so far:

1. 'Like' the SES Queensland Facebook page

2. Get a first aid kit or make sure the one you have is up to date

3. Make sure you have a battery operated radio and spare batteries

4. Save 000 in your phone for emergencies

You used to have to ring a different number from your mobile but 000 now works. We had to ring an ambulance for Paul's dad last year and 000 got me straight through. Quicker to dial it than store it though I think?

5. Make sure you have enough water for 3 days

This is always an issue for us. We put pots and pans out to catch rainwater and use the floodwater to flush our toilets, as well as relying on our bottled supply.

6. Get a gas cooker so you can still boil water and cook if the power goes out

Our gas stove has been the best thing for floods. Imagine a fridge full of food that has to be cooked before it goes off? Paul did rely on a small gas burner one year, and boiled eggs as the chooks laid them.

7. Check electrical items for damage before use (ie. Christmas lights)

An odd thing to put on the list at this stage although I suppose it was emailed at Christmas time.

8. Where would you stay if you had to evacuate your home - have a plan

We have great neighbours who own a camping ground and the helicopter shot in my cover photo was taken from there. We have stayed at their place several times when we had to get out.

9. Save 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) in your phone for non-emergency health advice

A great suggestion. I did not even know about this information line. Have you used it for advice before?

10. Ensure you have a working torch and spare batteries

11. Get to know your neighbours, maybe even swap phone numbers

We had thought of getting everyone together but it has not eventuated. It is on my to-do list. When Cathryn from Cobb and Co was arranging for the lady next door to get airlifted from her roof, we discovered the value of knowing who your neighbours are.

12. Make a list of your valuable items and take photos for insurance purposes

13. On hot days check on elderly relatives and neighbours to make sure they are okay.

A great point, but not sure of it's relevance (for this list) anyway. Living out here we don't have close elderly neighbours.

14. Find out where your nearest hospital emergency department is

***

There you have it! With fourteen weeks into the fifty-two we have certainly covered a few essentials. I question the order of priorities with a few of them, as there are several things I would have included by now if I were designing the list. For example, a stockpile of food would be more important than making a list of my valuable items...to me anyway :)

What are your thoughts? With bushfires and floods now affecting people where they haven't before, do you have some sort of plan?

Flood-Proof Friday - Cars and Floods

Car Safety Emergency Hammer Red Beacon Flashlight Light

Do you have one of these in your glovebox? Or are you like me and never knew one of these existed. This is just one example of an emergency hammer, designed to be kept in your car and used in...well...an emergency of course. This particular one can smash a window, display a red emergency beacon, be used as a flashlight or a light....it can even cut a seatbelt if required. I can think of a myriad of occasions where I could have used this tool, and this story below is just one of those situations that I want to share with you.

Last week I was asked what we do with our cars during a flood. Usually we are aware that a flood is coming, so we move them up to high ground on a neighbour's property. However, last year there were no warnings and we woke at 2am to find water downstairs. We park our cars close to the house and by the time we got to them the water was up to the bottom of the door. While the kids and I got as much stuff out of the house as we could, Paul got into his car in an attempt to move it before it went under. My little Daewoo was a lost cause, parked on the other side of the house and nearly completely underwater by then.

Paul couldn't get the car started and with the water coming inside, he shut the door...big mistake. Something went haywire with the car's electronics and the doors locked. He tried the windows and they wouldn't wind up or down. The kids and I were oblivious to his situation, busily trudging through floodwater, in the rain, to take stuff upstairs. Paul frantically kept trying the ignition, and moving his feet on the clutch and brake, with the water rising up to his waist. The horn didn't work when he pressed it...somehow, finally the car lurched forward slightly, and in that momentary second he was able to wind down the window half way, and push himself out of the car.

He didn't tell us this story straight away. It was only when we decided we had done all we could do that he told me what had happened. It was a sobering moment, realising what could have happened and what we were both oblivious to - the dangers of electronic windows and doors in a flood situation. He said the really frustrating thing was that there was nothing in the car he could smash the window with...hence my promotion of the above type of tool, and the suggestion that everyone should keep one in their glovebox...just in case. I just have an ordinary hammer in mine, but will be getting an all-in-one tool. I like the idea of the beacon.

This was one of our few scary flood situations and surprisingly, in my research for this post, I could not find any really useful information or safety tips from an authority on what they suggest should be done if you are trapped in your vehicle in floodwaters. Maybe that's an area that should be covered on a disaster website or in a get-ready-for-flood checklist. Paul actually rang in on a talkback radio program about this problem and many people rang in surprised that they did not know about this danger also. If you locate any information I would love to know about it so I can share the link.

This week, I also want to update you on the tasks I have been completing under the Queensland Get Ready program. I have registered online and they send me a task every week to complete. This is what I have been sent to do so far:

1. Like the State Emergency Service (SES) on Facebook - done
2. Restock or purchase a first aid kit - done
3. Purchase a battery operated radio and spare batteries - done

These are my latest two tasks:

     4. Save 000 Triple Zero in my phone - all of our phones
     5. Have three days supply of water - we always make sure our filter is full and we have an emergency
         supply of bottled water

In 48 weeks (one task a week), I should be more than prepared for any disaster!

Do you keep a hammer or flashlight in your glovebox?

Flood-Proof Friday - Floodproofing Our House

This subject heading may be a little misleading because there really is no such thing as a flood-proof home. Unless you live in an ark I guess...and we have thought about that possibility, believe it or not. The truth is you can't stop the volume of flood water that we have from going into our home. By flood-proofing I am talking about doing things to your home to make it more durable, practical things that we have adopted over the years to minimise damage, repairs and expense.

Firstly, we are fortunate that our house is metal-cladded, and built on a steel frame. After a flood there is very little to do except for pressure cleaning on the outside. We do have a couple of vents at the bottom of the walls to help in sweeping the water out of the house. The other great flood-friendly design features include the fact that we have second floor to move everything up to (including ourselves), and an external staircase which is essential for access...and for tying up our dinghy.

The dinghy is an essential part of our flood strategy. It is the only way we can evacuate as our house is surrounded by water. When we are staying upstairs it gives us something to do as well. It's actually quite beautiful rowing around our lagoon and rescuing stray items that decide to float away.

After every flood there is usually something we think of doing that will reduce our expense and get our facilities back up and running quickly. It is important to have access to water after a flood in order to clean, so moving our pump and hot water service upstairs to our verandah has meant that we have water as soon as we have power. When we stay upstairs we use flood water in the cistern to flush our toilet as we usually have no power.

When we had our solar panels installed in June, we had the inverter installed upstairs so that it will not get flooded. We have tried to get Energex to move the power box also but they consider it a safety risk for their meter readers to climb stairs...never mind our safety risk when it goes underwater. Once the water goes down Energex have to attend every time to check our power box...and an electrician has to inspect and replace power points before the power can be turned back on.

In this photo you can see a few more internal flood design features. We originally had gyprock which of course is ruined in a flood. Water can stay inside our home for 2-3 days and causes damage to painted walls. Our builder installed colourbond inside, to a height of 1.5m which unfortunately was not high enough for the 2012 flood. You can also see that our power points are raised above the colourbond to try and avoid water damage. The third thing in this photo of note is the metal furniture. These are just pressure cleaned after a flood and we don't take them upstairs.

It gets pretty crowded and we need every bit of space we can get. The boys go a bit stir-crazy being crowded inside. Note the saucepans on the railings to catch rainwater :)

This is not a great photo but it shows my old kitchen which was relocated upstairs so that we do not have to move fridges etc during a flood. Not an easy thing to do in the rain  and going up steep stairs.

This is a photo taken in the main lounge after a flood clean-up. You can see the corrugated full length walls, the practical metal outdoor setting, the tiled floors (no rugs) and raised power points. The blue curtain leads into the boys room (my old kitchen). Our builder came up with a great idea after one of our floods:

He installed hinges on the doors that allow them to be removed. We can usually get to the doors before water gets into the house, store them upstairs, and put them back on afterwards. Genius! Beats replacing and repainting doors every time - they fill with water and are useless after flooding...they do burn well on the bonfire though!

This is the type of insulation we had installed after the first flood. We had batts type of insulation prior to that which filled up with water, further damaging walls and impossible to dry out...and it stank! This is like thick bubble wrap.

These are the main things I can think of at the moment that we have done to our home. We also have to keep the kids possessions stored in plastic boxes (well, they don't always stay there but it does make it easier to move everything upstairs), do regular clear outs, and utilise metal hanging wardrobes...no walk in robes or built ins on the ground floor.

Please note that I am sharing these things in the hope that they may help someone who lives in a flood zone. For those of you who don't, I think some of these flood proof measures are just interesting anyway and something most people would not think of doing. I am not a hard-luck sour-sop type of person and do not share my story to play the 'victim'. I am accepting of my lot (finally!) and seek no sympathy, but am happy to share my story with you...because it is an important part of me. That I am slowly beginning to understand.

We have some beautiful memories during the floods, and I love how everyone comes together and does their part. It's a little like camping out...without the land.

What adventures do you and your family have? Have you had to adapt you home to your surroundings?

Flood-Proof Friday - One Step at a Time

Well if it doesn't rain it pours (pun intentional). I actually received two actions this week from the "Get Ready Queensland One Step at a Time" program that I registered for. The first step was to 'like' the SES Queensland Facebook page which I did. It's a good idea to find your local or state emergency service and like their page. I already have several Regional SES and local government pages on my Facebook feed because social media is a phenomenal way to get up to date information during a flood or bushfire. Residents can tell you what roads are closed in areas the police and SES cannot get to - and you find out instantaneously. I will do a further post on Social Media in a disaster at a later date. We have many stories of how it has helped us.

The second email I received said to make sure my first aid kit is up to date or to get one if I don't have one. Major confession...we don't have one. I don't even think we have a box of band-aids in the house. So, guess I will be looking at stocking a first aid kit this week. There is a handy link to the Queensland Ambulance site who have a full list of the items you should have in your kit. I think I will just buy one of theirs so I know that I have everything. If you already have a first aid kit make sure you check it every year as bandages and saline etc have an expiry date.

Gympie hosted a Get Ready Queensland event on Saturday which was really interesting. I met so many amazing people and learnt so many things. I am so glad my journey is taking me out into the community...it certainly is an eye-opener to see what I have been missing.

As you can see, the event was designed to cover preparing for a storm, flood or fires. We are at extreme risk of all of these at the moment. Our floods earlier the year have caused dry conditions and extreme fire danger now. We are also expecting heavy rainfall (hopefully not flooding) due to increasing ocean temperatures. Your area could be facing similar risks, wherever you are in the world.

This is an example of a stocked emergency kit. I don't have one prepared and ready to go but am working on it.

I learnt that there are nifty alternatives to sandbags. The inside is similar to a disposable nappy and holds water to inflate them and provide a barrier.

I learnt about 'Seeds of Hope', a community group encouraging everyone to plant sunflowers in their garden to show support for those fighting depression. Why Sunflowers? Because they are cheerful.

A beautiful lady dressed in yellow gave me some sunflower seeds to plant - three varieties.

I learnt about life straws. You can drink contaminated water through them and it filters it clean. One of these will last an average person for three years at a cost of $30. They are donated to many third world countries.

I was encouraged to think about donating my organs...just in case something should happen.

The fire service office a free safehome visit for those living in metropolitan areas. The Rural Fire Brigade will assess our fire risk here.

Our council has won many awards for its resilience program, and the toolkit they designed has been adopted by many councils in Australia and overseas.

The toolkit is where you record everything (phone numbers, bank details etc) and store all of your documents. It is also available electronically and I think many of you would find it useful Gympie Resilience Toolkit. You can record everything and save it in cyberspace. The council even have waterproof wristbands with a USB built into them so that you can take your information with you if you have to leave in a hurry...and its more portable than the folder if you have to get a helicopter for example.

I also spoke to one of our councillors regarding the proposed flood levee and my concerns about our area not being included in the study - especially considering we have flooded for the past six years. I was advised to put my concerns in writing and given her email address...I don't think my questions can be answered easily, but it is a start.

So, it was a very interesting week for this floodproof mum. Have you been to an event like this before?