Time

A long time ago I used to think that a lot could happen in a week. Then as I grew older I realised a lot could happen in a day. Different experiences in my life have taught me that a lot can happen in an hour. Now, after seeing the images and hearing the stories of the recent flood events in the towns further east of here, I realize that a lot can happen in a minute.....and where you were standing or sitting in a particular minute last Monday determined whether you survived or not.

Toowoomba, Murphys Creek, Postmans Ridge, Helidon, Gatton, Grantham and numerous other little hamlets and settlements we didn't even hear about had no warning that the wall of water was rushing towards them, obliterating all before it. Horrifying images brought gasps of disbelief and awe. People, houses, cars, bridges - there one minute and gone the next, swept away by a raging, swirling mass of uncontrolled fury - some likened it to an inland tsunami. Grantham appears to have borne the brunt of the storm with estimates of up to 30 people losing their lives. One body was found 86km away - 86 kilometres. That's the distance from Dalby to Toowoomba. What hope did they have?

Then our state capital flooded. Whatever the river wanted, it took. For nearly two days we watched the water rise and rise then slowly fall, revealing a dirty brown landscape of mud, sludge and debris. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an army of volunteers came to help, armed with brooms, buckets, shovels and spirit. Watching this unfold on tv, my throat swelled with emotion and pride and my eyes filled with tears. Complete strangers delivered overwhelming support to those whose lives had been ruined.

Anna Bligh said it best when she uttered these words through a haze of emotion and tears:

"As we weep for what we have lost and as we grieve for family and friends and we confront the challenge that is before us, I want us to remember who we are. We are Queenslanders. We're the people that they breed tough, north of the border. We're the ones that they knock down and we get up again".

I'm a Queenslander.