Thoughts for Australia

[christoph404]

The disaster in Brazil sounds dreadful with almost 500 people losing their lives, those typical closely packed hillside dwellings around Rio and San Paulo were simply swept away in mud slides rendering thousands of people homeless, what's happening in Australia is no less awful, Britain and Europe got a big dump of snow which ruined many peoples Christmas holidays but that seems inconsequential compared to what's going on with the elements in other parts of the world.

[ShirlGirl]

Body discovered 80km away in flood zone

Defence force personnel are working with police and emergency services and the coroner in the Lockyer Valley to search for and identify the bodies of people swept away in flash-flooding.

The force of the flooding was so strong one body was found 80km from where the person went missing.

"One of the people who are confirmed deceased was found 80 kilometres downstream from where they were reported missing," Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts told reporters today.

"I think this just demonstrates and highlights the complexity of these search and rescue operations and also the time that's going to be consumed searching all of the creeks and streams associated with this river system."

He said he understood that families were anxious for news but to be as patient as possible. It was possible some bodies might never be found, he added, noting that emergency workers had more than 200 kilometres of waterways to cover.

- Paul Osborne, Senior Political Writer, AAP with Yahoo!7 January 14, 2011, 3:32 pm

[wellendcanons]

My thoughts go out to everyone struggling with the freak weather at the moment whether it be Australia,Brazil,Southern Asia or anywhere else.

My thoughts go out to them as well. The news coverage of the Brazil mudslides this morning well and truly puts our problems into perspective. It's very deeply upsetting. If you just happened to be in the wrong place you wouldn't have had any chance at all. My thoughts are with all of the Countries in the world enduring freak weather conditions at this terribly sad time. What a stert to 2011!

wec

[Kitty Whiskers]

This is one of many heartbreaking stories from the Grantham, who suffered the worst devistation.



Torrent tore baby from mum's grasp

Koren Helbig and Andrew Carswell From: The Courier-Mail January 15, 2011 12:02AM

BABY Jessica Keep may be the youngest victim of Monday's tragic flash flood. The 23-month-old was swept from her mother's arms as the wall of water hit Grantham, east of Toowoomba, and has not been seen since.

Tragically, the body of one of Jessica's grandmothers was found in Gatton and her other grandmother is still missing.

Jessica's uncle Darren Keep yesterday told how his brother Matthew frantically struggled to save his wife Stacey, who is six months pregnant, and their three children as the water hit their Railway St home.

Matthew's mother-in-law Dawn Radke was also swept from the house and is yet to be found, while the body of his mother Pauline Magner, 65, was found on Tuesday at Gatton.

Mr Keep said Stacey was sucked from the house while holding Jessica and managed to grab a downpipe, but lost her grip and was washed on to the nearby railway line.

"Her legs got caught in the sleepers and she was drowning with her baby in her arms," he said.

Mr Keep said the force of the torrent then tore baby Jessica from her mother's arms.

"The moment Stacey realised she didn't have her baby anymore she gave up and went under water but within moments the helicopter pilot rescued her and took her to hospital," he said.

That moment will forever be imprinted in the mind of chopper pilot Mark Kempton, who winched the hysterical mum to safety, along with 27 others in just two-and-a-half hours.

"I looked over my shoulder and saw her sitting on the floor of the aircraft and she was just devastated," he said.

"It doesn't matter how many people you save, you always want to get someone else one more time and that's really frustrating."

As the wall of water hit, Matthew Keep was sucked through the garage and past his mother-in-law Dawn, who was hanging on to a lawnmower.

He could not reach her and was washed down to a neighbouring house, where he helped another family clamber to safety on their roof and was rescued by helicopter.

Mr Keep later returned to the house, where a 1.8m tide had swept through, and miraculously found his daughter Maddison, 5, in the loungeroom and son Jacob, 4, hanging on to the top of the shower screen.

"(Jacob) was scared of water. He was having trouble learning to swim. When Matthew got him, he said: 'I held on Daddy, I held on'," Darren Keep said.

"We think Mum (Pauline Magner) must have put him there. She would have been trying to save the kids' lives before her own life."

Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson yesterday warned the bodies of some flood victims would never be found.

Emergency workers yesterday continued the grim search along more than 200km of waterways. Such was the force of the waters, one victim was found 80km from where they went missing.

Up to 53 people are still missing from the area - with grave fears held for 12 - after Monday's devastating "inland tsunami" that rocketed down the range from Toowoomba, smashing through smaller towns including Grantham, Murphys Creek, Postmans Ridge, Withcott and Helidon.

Most of the 16 people who have died in the southeast Queensland floods have come from the Lockyer Valley, an area stretching past Ipswich through to the foot of the Great Dividing Range.

"This search can't possibly be completed until some time next week," Mr Atkinson said.

"And we could not exclude the possibility that some may never be found."



Apparently, the pregnant Mum miscarried later - how much can one family suffer?

[jimw1]

This is one of many heartbreaking stories from the Grantham, who suffered the worst devistation.



Torrent tore baby from mum's grasp

Koren Helbig and Andrew Carswell From: The Courier-Mail January 15, 2011 12:02AM

BABY Jessica Keep may be the youngest victim of Monday's tragic flash flood. The 23-month-old was swept from her mother's arms as the wall of water hit Grantham, east of Toowoomba, and has not been seen since.




Mr Keep said Stacey was sucked from the house while holding Jessica and managed to grab a downpipe, but lost her grip and was washed on to the nearby railway line.

"Her legs got caught in the sleepers and she was drowning with her baby in her arms," he said.

Mr Keep said the force of the torrent then tore baby Jessica from her mother's arms.

"The moment Stacey realised she didn't have her baby anymore she gave up and went under water but within moments the helicopter pilot rescued her and took her to hospital," he said.

Losing a Child must be a terrible thing for a mother and family' but that story is Horrific' I cant even begin to imagine what it must be like to lose a child in that way........