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#226657 - 06/26/11 03:13 AM Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods
KenOTBC Offline
Stranger

Registered: 05/30/11
Posts: 19
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
I've learned so much from this forum, when the floods hit Brisbane earlier this year it was knowledge learned from here that stood me and my family in good stead. I thought I would post up my observations from this time, as best as I can remember them, in case some info here helps others. Its going to be long so make a nice cup of tea.

All through spring from September onwards we had a LOT of rain. Being new to Brisbane and sub tropical living I figured it was what was to be expected, but locals were telling me it was particularly wet. For two weeks over Christmas we saw no sunshine, it rained hard every day. A cyclone hit the north of the state (2,000kms north) on Christmas day, and from then the stories of flooding started.

Day by day the floods came further south, affecting town after town and dominating the headlines. The feeling in Brissie was that the Wivenhoe Dam, built since the 1974 floods, would keep Brisbane safe. I presumed the locals knew best and didn't worry. But it kept on raining and I started to feel uneasy.

On Monday the 10th something triggered me to check supplies 'just in case'. My wife thought I was being paranoid (she gently mocked me reading this forum) but I went shopping in any case. We had enough tinned / long term food for a couple of weeks, I topped up on perishables (milk bread etc) and pet food and medications. As I left the supermarket the heavens opened, I have never seen rain like it. Just walking 15 feet to the car I got soaked. I have been in storms before, even severe storms that deserve a warning, but this rainfall was to me unprecedented. I can't remember the exact figures, some areas received over 200mm a day and a lot of that fell in a 2 to 3 hour period. My swimming pool was already full, coming home with the shopping it had caused a waterfall down my front steps (a run of 12 steps to the house door) which I found physically difficult to walk against. This is the rainfall that caused the flash flood in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley.

I remember shopkeepers quietly laughing at me as I stocked up, talking about panic buying, I couldn't believe how short sighted they were being. I wasn't panicking, and the shops were mostly empty, but there you go.

Not long after I got home news of the Toowoomba flash flood came through. My wife stopped laughing at me. We went into media soak up stage with the TV, ABC Radio and Facebook being our main source of news. Be very wary of all news sources, these days they all seem more intent on getting ratings than getting news correct. So many rumours were starting to go around that it was really difficult to tell fact from fiction. But in and around the BS there was news coming in, via facebook, that a 'wall of water' was heading down the Lockyer Valley and to tell people to get out. I did not see this on the TV or radio, and thought it just another rumour, but tragically it was correct.

Tuesday morning we all woke to the news of the devastation in the Lockyer Valley. At this point Brisbane was seriously starting to see the trouble she was in, and people descended on the shops. I went too, not for food but to stock up on beer (hey for me its a necessity). The two local supermarkets were shut, one for lack of staff, another was closed by the police due to lack of staff and a fight that broke out over bread. I live in one of the nicer areas of town... many staff don't live here and were worried about getting home again, so didn't show up for work. The car park was full of people desperately trying to stock up, but the only places open were the bottle shop (for alcohol) and the fish and chip shop - even MacDonalds had shut. So I got the rest of the stocks I needed but my neighbours didn't. The atmosphere was very tense.

Petrol stations all had long queues, and many had run dry. Luckily I had half a tank which I figured would do. We live high on a hill so evacuation was never a concern.

I went home and told my wife that what we didn't have we would do without, we weren't heading out again. The authorities in charge of Wivenhoe Dam were starting controlled releases in a desperate attempt to get water out of the dam safely. After 9 years of drought and water restrictions, drinking water was being thrown away. The dam was filling up at 5% an hour, and they were worried the emergency spillways would give way (they are designed to collapse if the water pressure gets too high) meaning the water would be out of control. This came VERY close to happening, another few hours rain would have done it, and the water levels in Brissie would have been twice as high as they were had it happened. Brisbane was, in the end, very very lucky.

We had agreed to try and help the RSPCA with phone work, as some of their staff couldn't get in. This would have entailed heading out again, I wasn't keen but my wife was insisting, I was hoping that by Wednesday morning the news would look so bad she would change her mind. We called on Wednesday morning and they were in full panic mode - water levels were higher than anticipated and they needed urgent help evacuating animals. The advice from the local council had been around preparing against 1974 flood levels, in 1974 they only had a foot of water into their back paddocks, but this time the levels were way higher. 35 years of riverside development had totally changed the water flood patterns. They had staff wading through water up to their armpits getting animals out. We headed out to try and help, but couldn't get through. Many roads were closed, the list of road closures on the council website was hopelessly out of date, so we had to do a lot of backtracking. Being new to town we didn't know all areas well, and GPS is useless at these times (it doesn't know which roads are closed or likely to be closed). We nearly had three collisions on the roads as other road users weren't paying due attention. Very stressful and surreal. In the end we were told they had all the animals out, so we headed home. Another hour and we would have been cut off 3 miles from home - very stressful. We got home, cuddled our dogs and cats and started on the beer.

Many people were taken by surprise because of the unexpected patterns of flooding. Because the council said prepare to 1974 flood levels, many people had to evacuate at the last minute as waters rose higher into their houses than they were expecting. Pets had to be left behind as assisted evacuation teams wouldn't take pets, and initially evacuation centres refused pets (this has become a political hot potato now, they say in future pets will be allowed, but in an emergency when evac spaces are scarce I bet they won't). Pets were being passed to strangers on the street to look after. I have met many people who either expected to be flooded because their house was inundated in 1974 but weren't, or vice versa.

We offered three different sets of people safe accommodation for them and their pets as their houses were likely to flood. Each one of them held off making the decision until too late - roads were blocked and they wouldn't have got through. In the end they were safe at home but it was close.

We were lucky, we were blocked off for 2 days but had enough supplies for 2 weeks. Power went down for two hours in the early hours as the power companies rerouted, luckily I had turned off all the computing equipment. Mobile (cell) coverage was in and out, ADSL failed for a couple of hours too, but POTS kept on working. If the dam flood spillways had failed, we would have lost power for a few days for sure, alongside safe drinking water and internet, and Brisbane would have been in a hell of a mess.

Friday and the cleanup began. We returned to the RSPCA and lent a hand. It is then you realise exactly what is in the water - clean it isn't. Sewage, oil, chemicals, mud, it was disgusting. Most of the houses condemned in Brisbane haven't been for water damage but for toxicity danger. Always put a sandbag in each toilet - pressure in the sewage caused by floodwater causes blowbacks and sewage blasted all over the house.

MAJOR LESSONS LEARNED
1. Always have 2 weeks of stocks for you and your family including pets. Food, fresh water, medicines, beer.

2. Listen to all news reports but don't succumb to every rumour. However if a rumour if true will effect you, be on your guard or just get out in case its true.

3. Plan your evacuation well in advance for you and your family INCLUDING pets. Don't rely on emergency services or evac centres to help you care for your pets - its probably down to you and you alone. Get out early and stay out.

4. Keep your POTS as ADSL and VOIP are useless in a power cut, and mobile /cell services are always first to fail. POTS can give you voice communications and dial up internet. Many info sites will be text only in an emergency due to the fluid nature of information at these times, and higher traffic to them - dial up is better than nothing. POTS isn't just the line but an old fashioned wired handset that takes power from the telephone exchange too!

5. Facebook is a great way to stay in touch. The Queensland Police and local council could update their facebook pages more quickly than their websites, so news came out quickly in a rapidly changing situation. They could also quash rumours immediately too. I saw 12 separate rumours that the water supply was unsafe - these were quashed in minutes. I never considered a facebook account as an emergency resource before.

6. Don't worry if people laugh at you being prepared - who cares so long as you are keeping yourself and loved ones safe. They look the idiots in the long run not you.

7. Don't rely on GPS, paper maps and local knowledge are best.

8. Wifey no longer refuses to carry her handbag safety kit - she carries it proudly and sees it as a sign of my love for her. Which it is.

I know most of this is basics to most of you but hopefully you all find something interesting in it!

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#226660 - 06/26/11 04:26 AM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
That was a very nice set of observations, Ken!

The sandbag in the toilet is something I had never heard of... does that volcano effect apply to septic tanks as well as sewers, and does it apply to homes on high ground?

"I remember shopkeepers quietly laughing at me as I stocked up, talking about panic buying..."

Did you tell them what/why you were doing, specifically? Or did they just assume?

The pet issue is why I wouldn't go to a shelter. Here in the U.S., southern California (lots of money) was the first place I had heard that was accepting pets, even horses. But for most places, it would be the exception, not the rule.

I would rather live out of my car and/or a tent than live my pets behind, but I think I'm in the minority around here.

Thanks again for the insights. POTS win again!

Sue

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#226662 - 06/26/11 05:28 AM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: Susan]
MDinana Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/08/07
Posts: 2208
Loc: Beer&Cheese country
Great after-action report.

Again, never heard the sandbag thing. Filing that away...

I love how you clarified the consumables as "milk, bread" I bet you bought eggs too, right? AKA, the infamous disaster "French Toast Diet."

I'm rather suprised at how many times you went out in the car. Looking back on it, would have done the same, or would you have just hunkered down? It seems you had several close calls -how prepared were you to be cut off from your house with all its lovely supplies?

Glad your wife had her light bulb switched on. the trick now is to keep her from bragging to the entire world, lest you have a crowd of folks show up at your door some day. Prepping for yourself and maybe some friends, sure. Prepping for the entire neighborhood and half of Brisbane? Not so possible.

Glad you're safe.

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#226666 - 06/26/11 06:01 AM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
KenOTBC Offline
Stranger

Registered: 05/30/11
Posts: 19
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
Susan, I'm not sure about those specifics re the volcano effect, sorry. This is quit common knowledge around Brisbane so I will see if I can find out. I think its just plumbed sewage but I'm not sure. Part of our emergency evac plans involve the tent! Should be fun with all the cats...

As for the shopkeepers, they assumed, but buying two weeks worth of kitty litter for four cats is a bit unusual!

MDinana I really wasn't keen on the Wednesday trip out, and I doubt we would have gone in the end just to help on the phones, but animals were in danger of drowning and I couldn't sit by, had to do what I could. The thought of dogs and cats shut in kennel blocks in rising water... Even with blocked roads we would have got home, just not in the car, I made sure we had lots of water in the car and good walking shoes. We would have got home any way necessary for our own pets. That was the only trip out that was dangerous, the shopping trips were all local to areas not in danger of flooding.

My wife does show off her FAK in her handbag, if someone needs a headache pill, after bite etc, and likes opening people's beer with her SAK, but whats in the house stays private. Plus all the neighbours know our dog...

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#226673 - 06/26/11 10:42 AM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
bacpacjac Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3601
Loc: Ontario, Canada
Thanks Ken. What an experience!

Like Sue and MDinana, I hadn't heard about putting a sandbag in the toilet either. Thanks!

I'm with you on the pets front. We try to always be stocked for a couple of weeks for them but do push it sometimes. The local shelters are overloaded here and would definitely need help as well. I'd like to think that they'd more proactive about it, rather than waiting until the last minute but I expect there would be challenges finding somewhere to take them regardless.

I'm glad to know that your wife is on-board now. It's much easier to prepare a family when then whole family is involved!

Glad you made it through!
_________________________
Mom & Adventurer

You can find me on YouTube here:
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#226676 - 06/26/11 11:05 AM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: bacpacjac]
MDinana Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/08/07
Posts: 2208
Loc: Beer&Cheese country
I love my dog to death, but I can't personally see going out of my way for random animals at the SCPA. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't most of them eventually put down anyway? Is the risk/benefit truly worth the potential life of you and your wife?

I can't imagine I'd run to the local nursing home and start whisking away the ill and decrepit either.

I'm such a narcissist. Glad there's folks like you out there.


Edit: I just noticed I made poo-bah! Go me, go me... (you should see my little dance). OK, back on topic.


Edited by MDinana (06/26/11 11:07 AM)

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#226687 - 06/26/11 02:23 PM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
Lono Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 10/19/06
Posts: 1013
Loc: Pacific NW, USA
Instead of a sandbag in the toilet consider installing a sewer backflow valve on your sewage line *before* it enters your house. Your toilet isn't the only appliance susceptible to sewage backflow, any outlet on that line can erupt. Also a sandbag may sustain a certain pressure, but when under enough pressure you'll have a bad burp to deal with. We put in a backflow valve a couple years ago in the event of Green River Flooding (the sewage treatment plant is in nearby Renton, in the potential flood zone), it cost a couple hundred dollars for an experienced plumber. Peace of mind.

Animal evacuation and shelter is now part of the protocol for most local US disasters, decided after Katrina. In the Seattle area we have a good partnership with the Humane Society to operate pet shelters in close proximity to shelters for people - literally get off the bus, check in your pet to a shelter, then check into your own shelter. This affords the opportunity for owners to visit their pets, take them out for walks - their pets are cared for, so maybe they can settle down and get a night's sleep too. Its more comfortable than living in your car with your pets which is where many pet owners end up without a pet shelter. Its not too difficult to set up provided you have partners with an interest in pets and a willingness to plan to operate the shelter (volunteers and/or staff). There is also a provision for large stock shelters, ex. in the Kent Valley they were prepared to shelter livestock and other larger animals near the Enumclaw fairgrounds.

Plan, plan, plan. Good on ya for being prepared!

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#226697 - 06/26/11 03:53 PM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
dweste Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
Thank you. The voice of experience is something to which I hope I will always listen.

The sandbag-in-the-toilet is new to me, though where I live is so flat that everything including the toilet would go underwater together. Hmm, of course, come folks try the defensive dam around the house thing, which would put toilet levels below flood waters ....

Backflow valves on water lines as well as sewage lines....

I am glad you and your family came through things okay.

Please consider more than two weeks of stuff, especially water.



Edited by dweste (06/26/11 03:54 PM)

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#226724 - 06/26/11 08:14 PM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
chaosmagnet Online   content
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
Welcome!

Originally Posted By: KenOTBC
4. Keep your POTS as ADSL and VOIP are useless in a power cut, and mobile /cell services are always first to fail.


Where I live, POTS lines go down with depressing regularity, while the cell service hasn't once in the last ten years. With that said your point regarding communications redundancy is well-taken.

The one major preparation I'd like to take at home would be a generator. In the event of a long-term power outage, being able to run the furnace/air conditioner, hot water heater, 'fridge and keep our phones charged could make a big difference. Unfortunately I can't afford to do it this year. While there's merit in the thought that the noise and lights associated with a generator can make you a target, one can always choose to not run it if circumstances warrant. It's much harder to choose to run one that you don't have.

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#226735 - 06/26/11 10:35 PM Re: Lessons Learned from the Brisbane Floods [Re: KenOTBC]
KenOTBC Offline
Stranger

Registered: 05/30/11
Posts: 19
Loc: Brisbane, Australia
I'm really lucky when it comes to long term storage as I have a swimming pool. In Queensland, because of the huge droughts of the last 9 years which ended so abruptly, there are lots of rules around water restrictions. One of them is that if you have a pool, you must have water storage to collect and use rainwater for filling your pool. So I have 8,000 litres (2213 Gallons) of rainwater storage, a tank which is full most of the year, its never been below two thirds full since I have been here (two years). I would want to boil this water before drinking, but I'm not on mains gas so we have gas bottles, always minimum 6 months supply sitting there, so boiling isn't an issue. I keep three Jerry Cans full of water at all times in the house, 60L (16 Gallons), and will use the 10L in each of the three toilets for the dogs (total 8 gallons).

Food we should keep more of agreed, also certain medications. I will be stocking up before the wet season comes around again.

As we camp we have an excellent ice box which can keep food frozen for up to 5 days (plan on 2 days) and our fridge / freezer is also an ice maker so we always have enough ice for 1 load in the ice box. As funds permit though I will be getting a battery system for camping which I can also use in the house in an emergency, with solar panels and maybe a generator, to run an electric camping fridge/freezer as well as keeping phones/laptop running.

As for the RSPCA, they had prepared to the government advice, i.e. water levels would be the same as the 1974 floods. In 1974 their back paddocks went under, so they evacuated the farm animals and horses that live there way ahead of time. Their lowest building, the desex clinic, wasn't touched in 1974 but had 2 metres of water go through it this time. The water also completely inundated their lowest kennel blocks and got into (to about a foot) their highest kennel blocks - all the animals were in danger and they evacuated in three hours. The lesson for me is not to trust official advice and plan to the worst case most pessimistic scenario.

Our business is a corporate sponsor for the RSPCA and we work closely with them - we had to get there to help them! I should point out Brisbane mainly filled up slowly as the river rose through controlled releases from the dam, there was no wall of water here (mainly - some creeks were very dangerous and trees did come down). The dangers were being cut off from home and our pets or being run off the road (which very nearly happened three times). The rain had stopped by this point. If I felt it was really dangerous, we wouldn't have gone, but it did feel good to get back in one piece.

Chaosmagnet, this isn't the first time I have seen cell coverage go down in an emergency. I used to live in London, in 2005 after the bombs the cell network was shut down for a few hours. I understand the cell networks were unusable after 9/11. I just don't want to rely on them!

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