| General Poetry posted January 6, 2011 |
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The rains have come
From Drought to Floods
by fionageorge
 He walked around his Queenland farm Dry dirt beneath his feet There'd been no rain for far too long There was nothing left to eat His crops had died, his cattle too The sun kept beating down He'd tried to get a job but found There were no jobs in town For ten long years there'd been no rain There was nothing he could do But leave the farm, leave it behind An old man at fifty-two  As he walks away he feels a drop He looks towards the sky He sees dark clouds, the rains have come But the land is hard and dry From drought to floods within a day As farms and cities drown All roads are cut, airports are closed With waters murky brown There's no reprieve, the rivers rise Their banks now overflow There's no escape, nowhere to turn There's nowhere dry to go The flood claims lives, cuts off supplies Animals drown in distress Industries and mines close down When it'll stop no-one can guess The raging waters hold other dangers As snakes and crocodiles float by What once was beautiful country-side Now a breeding place for mossies and flies The extent of the flood is massive Bigger than Germany and France combined It will be many days and weeks Before these waters will subside The Australian fighting spirit Is again tested to the core But we'll rebuild and start again Like our ancestors before  |
 Recognized |
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Australian English
Limited punctuation
Mossies - Australian slang for mosquitoes
The latest on the floods as at today, Thursday 6 January 2011
Queensland is losing up to A$100 million ($131 million) a day in coal exports because of the unprecedented floods.
Three three river systems spilling out across vast areas of the state had left 40 towns isolated or partly underwater, Premier Anna Bligh told an emergency Cabinet meeting in Brisbane yesterday. The meeting planned the response to a crisis that has affected more than 200,000 people and is expected to cost billions of dollars in recovery.
The Fitzroy, Condamine and Burnett river systems are in flood.
"We're now operating 17 evacuation centres in 10 towns," Bligh told her ministers.
She said it would be days before floodwaters started to subside.
Forty of the state's coal mines were unable to operate and it would take months to bring some back into production, ministers said.
Resources Minister Stephen Robertson and Environment Minister Kate Jones met to assess the environmental damage from flooded mines.
"It's going to take some months for some mines to be back to full operation," Robertson said.
"We earn round about A$100 million a day exporting coal to the rest of the world and exports have been significantly restricted by the impact on infrastructure."
Education Minister Geoff Wilson said told reporters that 10 state primary schools, three state high schools and three colleges had been "substantially affected" by the floods.
The Fitzroy River was expected to peak in Rockhampton last night.
The weather bureau said the Fitzroy was at 9.2m and steady but it could not say exactly when the river level would peak.
It is due to remain above the major flood level of 8.5m for at least a week.
At the 9.4m mark, 400 homes will be inundated and thousands more properties will be affected by floodwaters.
About 100 people were camped out at the city's evacuation centre while a further 500 stayed with family and friends.
Soggy conditions are making flood preparations difficult, with a severe thunderstorm alert current and up to 100mm of rain expected to hit the region over coming days.
There are more storms predicted.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Limited punctuation
Mossies - Australian slang for mosquitoes
The latest on the floods as at today, Thursday 6 January 2011
Queensland is losing up to A$100 million ($131 million) a day in coal exports because of the unprecedented floods.
Three three river systems spilling out across vast areas of the state had left 40 towns isolated or partly underwater, Premier Anna Bligh told an emergency Cabinet meeting in Brisbane yesterday. The meeting planned the response to a crisis that has affected more than 200,000 people and is expected to cost billions of dollars in recovery.
The Fitzroy, Condamine and Burnett river systems are in flood.
"We're now operating 17 evacuation centres in 10 towns," Bligh told her ministers.
She said it would be days before floodwaters started to subside.
Forty of the state's coal mines were unable to operate and it would take months to bring some back into production, ministers said.
Resources Minister Stephen Robertson and Environment Minister Kate Jones met to assess the environmental damage from flooded mines.
"It's going to take some months for some mines to be back to full operation," Robertson said.
"We earn round about A$100 million a day exporting coal to the rest of the world and exports have been significantly restricted by the impact on infrastructure."
Education Minister Geoff Wilson said told reporters that 10 state primary schools, three state high schools and three colleges had been "substantially affected" by the floods.
The Fitzroy River was expected to peak in Rockhampton last night.
The weather bureau said the Fitzroy was at 9.2m and steady but it could not say exactly when the river level would peak.
It is due to remain above the major flood level of 8.5m for at least a week.
At the 9.4m mark, 400 homes will be inundated and thousands more properties will be affected by floodwaters.
About 100 people were camped out at the city's evacuation centre while a further 500 stayed with family and friends.
Soggy conditions are making flood preparations difficult, with a severe thunderstorm alert current and up to 100mm of rain expected to hit the region over coming days.
There are more storms predicted.
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