Toowoomba Floods – January 10, 2011
January 10, 2011 FLOODS IN TOOWOOMBA.
I went home for lunch on the 10th and, after checking the Bureau of Meteorology – and noticing a big red/orange blob heading toward Toowoomba, Vicky and I waited for a storm. That’s not unusual – we’ve seen plenty over the years. But this one seem ominous.
The rain became heavy, and the heavier again. Water began to flow from the tank overflow and follow its familiar path into the back yard. But then the water level in the back yard began to rise up towards the house and studio. And it rose more and more – torrential rain thundering on the roof.
Water run off from the road in front of the house began to make its way through our drive-way and through the space between the house and studio. The backed-up water in the back yard continued to rise – flooding the underside of the house and creeping up to just below the top step into the house and studio. It held that height for twenty minutes or so. I grabbed the camera.
View from the top step of our studio
Eventually the rain eased and we checked the aftermath. Backyard flooded, under the house flooded – huge volumes of water running down the street. We investigated – just a minute or two from our home a torrent of brown turgid water was crashing through the once peaceful parkland at the end of our street.
Our back yard
Neighbours were out on the street as well – watching, wondering about the awesome scene before us. Later we were to learn of a child and mother had been swept to their deaths from a flooded car a block away upstream in James Street.
East Creek in flood at the bottom of Burns Street
Flood waters at the bottom of our street
The rest is a history that we all know from the media . . . Somethings were never to be the same again!
Cheers – Doug
wotwedid 
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