I helped with the cleanup this morning. It is like horrible toxic sludge. People were puking. And it is everywhere. Ugh. So much worse than I had imagined. Even in Brisbane the force of the water was amazing. 🙁

But there are thousands upon thousands of volunteers working to clean the streets. We’ll get Brisbane back on its feet. 🙂

the level of vounteerism has been amazing.

I was out with one of the volunteer crews yesterday in Brisbane. It was simply amazing to see so many people willing to help out people – in most cases, complete strangers – and it made me proud to know that these are Australians.

Once you are there, you cant help but be impacted by the devastation of peoples homes and belongings, as you see the state of the houses, and the piles of furniture and personal belongings in huge piles outside every house along so many streets. And then there is that mud that covers everything. After 10 minutes, you become use to the smell of the mud and rotting food and other items, which was initially overwhelming. Sometimes it is hard to know who lived in these homes as they work amongst the many volunteers working at cleaning out their homes. You can see that each of these people have resigned themselves to the clean up and the loss of everything that they owned, and are probably numb on the inside. But then the emotions are not that far from the surface. One older woman, who had been away from Brisbane last week and whose house went totally under, simply burst into tears when someone found her engagement ring and a broach that had been her grandmothers.

People in these suburbs and towns really need our support and really, really appreciate that people care so much about other Australians, even when we all live in big cities and towns.

My mother and some other women have been cooking foods for the survivers of the flood and the army of volunteers. One of these woman took a bundle of food down to a homeless shelter, and was amazed when these people simply insisted that the workers need it more than they do. Isn’t it amazing how the homeless show us all what true humanity is all about.

If you can, please volunteer some of your time or make a donation to a registered charity that will help all these people, whether they are in Brisbane, SE QLD or in Regional Queensland.

And pray that the flooding that is happening in a third of Victoria, does not result in loss of Australian lives and the loss of so much private property as well.

I’m still being amazed and overwhelmed by watching and hearing reports of people’s generosity and care for each other. I am physically unable to volunteer, but am planning to drop a donation in at the bank when I go into town on Tuesday. It’s heartwarming to see all of the volunteers getting out there and doing their bit to help.

I hope that the sense of community and connectedness will remain long after the floods are just a painful memory.