Inundation - the most terrifying day ever

This morning started like any other this week, flooded in, wet, dark, but with the knowledge of what happened at Toowoomba yesterday.  After some skype calls to mum and friends to reassure them we were oke I went to check out the yard to see the height of today's flood. What followed was the most terrifying day that either Michael or I have ever had. The flood came up within an hour, with the creek bursting its banks, and then the dam overflowing from the wall closest to us (whichy it never does). 

For the first time ever we could see the water on the dam from our house verandah (I mean that water in the normal body of the dam), and then its silver shimmer as it started to spill over the top. The sight of the dam going over on the wrong wall was the scariest thing I have ever seen. It never does that, not in the time the farmer has been here, and it meant that the water in the yard came up in minutes.

In between running around trying to pack (to go where?) and on the phone to the farmer and the neighbour with the cows (who quite handily is in the SES), we watched the water rise steadily and quickly.  By 7:30am it was at the bottom step of our house. It surged through our shed and laundry and into our shed store room. It carried away the empty water tank near the shed and deposited it down the paddock near the gate.

The water surrounded the house so efficiently that there was no place that was not rushing water.  It flowed under the house and you could feel the pillars being battered by the water.

Somehow, our neighbour knew that the water would not get any higher and told us to watch it, and to call her if it did, as she would arrange a helicopter out of here. I dont know how she knew that - this being an unprecedented flood, but she did and we watched that step for 2 more hours.

At 11:00am we went to inspect the damage in our shed. We spent all day yesterday cleaning it out and rearranging boxes, because we were bored and had no idea what was to come today.  If we had known we would have save the comic collection (which are Michael's pride and joy) , my uni books and textbooks, my doll collection, my diaries (written since I was 9), a collection of children's books I'd saved for years, Michael's golf clubs, my winter clothes and the box of clothes for the poor people. As well as all of our luggage and the moving boxes that we've saved from all of our moves.

Some of the fly screens we've put aside for repair are sitting down the the front gate, we can see them lodged there against the fence.

We thought we were ok after that inundation but it turned out it was just the first one. At 1:00pm we got hit with another storm, more severe than the first, which lasted for 3 hours.  It rained solidly the whole time and once again we watched the water come up around the car and the house.

As you can imagine I was beside myself.  We must have spent 8 hours outside today on the verandah watching the water. We had no way to get out except helicopter and knew that there were people in much greater need for that, despite our neighbour's kind offer (she also offered us a food drop, which was nice but we did not take up). There have been 10 people lost in the past two days (confirmed dead), which is horrible to think of so close to home. It is just a ghastly situation.

To eleviate the incredible nervous energy and terror I felt every time I looked at the water, I went inside and started putting things up high. I pulled out drawers and stacked them on beds, all low lying books went on the bed, all my scrapbooking stuff, my wine books, Michael's cook books, my remaining clothes, my jewellry, handbags, shoes, DVD's, technology, plates, good cutlery, special kitchen stuff, very good wine,  even the rug off the floor went up high.

In the middle of it I got a call from the girl who was taking the work phone for the day who asked me prices for a conference enquiry for a lady who obvious lives on Mars (the client refused to understand apparently that the hotel was closed, that all the staff were flooded out and that most of us were preparing for the worst).

We finally felt prepared for whatever might happen, having nowhere to go and nothing else to do but watch the water.  We discussed how we would climb onto the roof (through the manhole and bust out through the tin roof). We came up with the lunatic idea that if by chance the water dropped we would take the car and drive up one of the surrounding hills and camp above the water line, so that at least we were safe. (My dad reminded me that a helicopter would not find us perched on the side of a hill and that all sorts of nasty creatures would want to share our tent).

We were very lucky.  By 4:30pm the rain eased and at 5:00pm the mist that had enshrouded us all day had lifted. We did not have any logs run into the house, though they passed us by. We saw some fish trying to swim back again the flood (no, I dont know what kind of fish they were, unhappy ones probably). By 6:00pm after an early dinner we could breathe for a moment.

 We watched the devasting news on TV about the flooding that is expected tonight in Ipswich and tomorrow in Brisbane and feel so sad for those people who have been told that they WILL be flooded, not IF. The storm surge from Toowoomba, plus today's rain and the need to release water from the Wivenhoe catchment means that tonight Ipswich will get rivers at 22m, with estimated 9000 houses due to go under in Ipswich and Brisbane. All those people, who, like us this morning, had to choose a few things to pack, and leave to be safe. We would have given anything to leave today and be safe. But we are lucky that we did not have the horrible situation of knowing there is no chance of saving the house.

The pictures below show the story of our day and the horror that we felt. Now we are taking it in turns to sleep as we are supposed to get another heavy shower sometime tonight.

About 6:30 / 7:00am

About 7:15am

About 7:30am - when we started to freak out big time

Side of house - this is the driveway, completely blocking any chance to drive out

The other side of the house, before the water reached it max height - see the water tank is still there

The dam starting to overflow on the wrong side

The creek is at the far side of the flooded paddock. We have never seen it from the house before.

Another shot of the dam wall and the water coming towards us

Inundation complete - the water tank has disappeared into the paddock

The water flowing into the shed and storeroom and through our backyard and down the driveway

The side of the house. On the far side of the trees  is the creek, its hard to know where one starts and the other ends. We think the debris is a drum or a log.