Please give a positive thought or prayer for Louise/Deb and John, and the other Blunderites in Queensland. Jay brought to my attention that they're having major flooding and cyclones; it looks to be pretty bad. The heavy rains started in December and haven't let up; in two days this week Cyclone Ellie dumped something like 25 inches of rain. Louise and John live on the coast, where it seems to be the worst:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7868478.stm

For more stories:
http://news.google.com/news?ned=au&hl=en&ned=au&ie=UTF-8&ncl=1300513694

Hang in there, Wheezie! We're trying to locate the Blundercopter to come get you out. Blundervibes to you, John, the dogs, Appy, and the chooks and all of your loved ones!

Hang in there Louise! Do you think it's a little bit ironic that you posted a topic called "Catch The Wind" just a few weeks ago? Better be more careful what you post!!! Stay high and dry----a cyclone?......in a land called OZ?.......what's up with that?

Hang in there! I know what floods are like, we had those not too long ago. Do your best to just stay safe.

Hi Guys! The floods and heavy rains are not affecting us much in south east Queensland. It's mainly from about halfway up the coast and further north, so Deb Louise and I (and other SEQ Blunderites) are all O.K.

My brother-in-law and family are near one of the worst areas. Roads are cut everywhere, so they're stuck on their property. Luckily they are on a hill, so aside from being a little soggy, they are coping well.

Prayers just said & vibes sent. Hang in there...

Thank you, BobbiB, for letting us know that. The last time I checked, Louise was away, visiting a friend, so I didn't know if your area was affected or not. Guess this tunnel-visioned Texan needs to hit the geography books! I hope the Blundervibes that have gone down there have helped your brother-in-law and his family.

Yeah, I think Australia is ALMOST as big as Texas, so it's easy to see how one could be confused. At least that's what George W. Bush thought when he visited there and got lost looking for the opera house in Vienna.

We are embarrassed. For eight years we have been embarrassed, so we are used to it.

Hi Ceashel, Larry,

Don't be embarrassed. We all knew that electing George Dubya proved that y'all Americans hadn't lost your sense of humour ...

I am the other Brisbane Blunderite - been working a few hours west of home for a few months. We've had normal summer weather out here, but Australia remains "a land of droughts and flooding rains". The north is awash with 60% of our sunshine state now officially flooded. And the south of Aus has been sweltering for weeks. Forecast temps for New South Wales this weeeknd are 47c/115f. Adelaide's overnight minimum last week was 34c/93f. Rail tracks are buckling all over. And if the news wasn't already bad, now New Zealand is beating us in the cricket series.

Ah well. There's still a cool dry spot at the local pub.

Be good,

... Dave

Glad your doing okay. More vibes to our Blunderites in Oz...

Yeah we lived up north in Townsville for 3 years and went thru a few scary cyclones. Once the horses were up to there knees in water. The next time we loaded up all the critters and headed inland before we got flooded in. But we've been back down here in SE QLD for ten years and don't get many flood(except the big one in 1974.)

OZ is about the same size as the US but only has 6 states and 1 territory you could fit many US states just into QLD.

From what I know about Oz and cyclones, I always thought cyclones were part of the tranportation system. Ask Dorthey Gale from Kansas.

The heat wave in the south of Aus mentioned a few posts back has turned to tragedy - bush fires have destroyed over 600 homes and taken 65 lives. And in the north 2 people lost in flood waters, and a 5 year old boy missing believed taken by a crocodile.

,,, Dave

OMG! How much abuse can your poor country take?

The floods in northern Queensland have become less prominent in the news with the tragedy of the bushfires in Victoria. At this stage there are believed to be about 170 people dead and many more injured. Whole towns have been wiped out, and of course wildlife and domestic animals.
The police are on the trail of a serial arsonist who they believe is responsible for lighting the fires. It's hard to believe what some human beings are capable of.