Al and Jacque

Hi all we were planning on moving to Brisbane in March, we are a family with two boys 8 & 5, we don't know whether we should go ahead with our plans or not. Brisbane and surrounding areas as we all know are having a major catastrophe, and we all feel for the people who have lost relatives, homes and belongings, it will take a long time before things are back to anything near normal. We just hope and pray that the rain will subside and the waters will now recede. We just don't know what to do now, our PR visas expire next January so were hoping to make the move sooner rather than later, I am a Carpenter and have work here at the minute so am very lucky, but we need to fulfill or dreams of a life in Australia, we would like some advice as to what you think we should do?

Thanks
Alan

freebo

Hmm good question, I wondered what I would do if I had been planning to move there in the near future. Hopefully someone in QLD will give you some good advice.

Just a couple of thoughts.

- The rebuilding effort will likely mean lots of work for the building trade.

- There are plenty of other cities to consider.

itsmylife

We go in 2 weeks time, everything is booked and paid for, finished work today and I have a job to start in Brisbane at the end of Feb, so we have no other option but to go for it... our little boy is telling everyone he's taking his wellies...

ABCDiamond

Not everywhere in the Brisbane area is the same. There are areas that you would think are in another country. I've had to go out and water the garden today, yet others, maybe 25 kms away, are under water.

A similar Flood event also happened in 1974, and Brisbane recovered.
Not sure how long it took, but as others have said, tradespeople will probably be in demand for repairs and rebuilding etc.

asprilla

As per ABCDiamond's email, only a very small area in Brisbane itself has been physically affected by flooding.

Dare I say it, but the media has had a field day with what has happened in the Brisbane area... simply because Brisbane is a large city. But have there been any fatalities in the Brisbane area? Have people lost prized possessions? I can't say for certain but I believe there are zero casualties in Brisbane, and 99% of residents have moved their valuables and keepsakes out of harm's way. Yes people have lost beds, mattresses, sofas. Yes their houses are soaking wet and dirty... but this will all be sorted out in time.

The real tragedies have occurred outside the Brisbane area, where lives have been lost in horrific circumstances, and families have lost all of their possessions, and even their entire homes in many cases.

I don't want to downplay what has happened in Brisbane for one second... my family has been affected and I believe that we will have lost several thousand $ worth of furniture and other bits and pieces due to flood damage; it is too early to know for sure. But really these things can be fixed, cleaned, replaced, dried out, etc.

Kim67

Yep as Aspirilla has said, Brisbane will virtually go back to normal in a couple of days. We will have no Citycats and Ferrys for a while but that will probably be the biggest disruption to actual infrastructure. The rural areas however will be affected for months or years with what's happened out there.

freebo

Hope you're right but I have my doubts, Bligh just said

"This is the greatest natural disaster in the State's history, possibly the nations"

Kim67

There will obviously be the cleanup of the houses and businesses that could take months. Spoke to friends this morning who have a truck load of relatives out at Dalby and my girlfriends and her girls are off there to help with the cleanup, but her husband who works in IT for a major financial institution is setting up new offices in a non-fllood area so it will be business as usual for them even while their offices in the city are being fixed.

moneypenny20

The thing is, it's not over so whilst things will get back to 'normal' fairly quickly, there is still shedloads of rain forecast for the next few months, this 'could' be the first, not a one off.

LongWayHome

We were completely underwater in 1974, and my parents are underwater again this time (I am overseas). You will be amazed at how quickly things will go back to normal. Once the cleanup starts it will be all done in a couple of weeks. Like others have said though, lots of work to be had. All that insurance money...........

Steve2009

I'm optimistic that lessons will have been learned with regard to management of the Wivenhoe Dam etc. but it's very possible that we'll have further disruption going forward. One problem might be finding accommodation if there are a lot of people displaced in the short to medium term.

jad n rich

Again, much of brisbane is not destroyed, my family in UK seem to think the entire state is wiped out as devastating as it is in some areas, its hardly the entire state.

As for Carpenter coming to brisbane, say we end up with 30,000??? houses in needing some repair/rebuild........

We have appointments in brisbane next week, all confirmed to go ahead as planned.

Weather disasters in OZ are pretty common, things get rebuilt and sadly before you know it some other flood/fire is the news instead.

Every time the worst thing is the human tragedy, I was crying my eyes out when I read about that 13 year old boy and his brother, the 13 year old drowned.. The family had been out doing the january school uniform/book run, gawd it hit home, how many times we have done that with my boys, in the boiling heat, lining up, cursing the bloody prices, to think that ordinary event lead to his death, I dont know it was just too much

Pollyana

There are times when people like me wish we did a different job


To the OP, and anyone else concerned - just do your homework when you get here before you decide where to live. Every State in Aus is more prone to natural disasters than the UK, its just about mitigating the risk. I live in a "high risk suburb" but I am at the top of a hill, If I flood, 98% of Brisbane is underwater. There are fantastic flood maps of Brisbane available to the public, which will be updated after this event - largely a question of getting here, looking at available resources like that, and talking to the council and the locals, especially now when the 1974 flood info has been updated so much.
The affected area of Brisbane is really small, but its huge news cos its the capital, and cos the city centre (CBD) is impacted. Huge swathes of rural Qld have come off far far worse.

mala

where can i find these pls ?

bcworld

From the Brisbane City Council website...however I think the general flood maps are currently unavailable, there are some showing this weeks models here:

http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/#model