The upper reaches of the Brisbane River

[LJG]

I have not been around much lately. I have a good mate who lives near Laidely who reached the end of his tether last week and decided it was time to go to a better place. Luckily he phoned first to say goodbye and we got the police & ambulance there in time. He is back home now, but is still in a bad headspace, so I went out early yesterday and spent the day with him.

On the way home I decided to go via Esk & Kilcoy so I missed all the city traffic. There is a nice park by the Brisbane River just past Fernvale where Chris & I usually stop and have a cuppa when we are out that way. There is no more park and I stopped and took a few shots.

I saw plenty of destruction in the towns, people’s lives stacked in ruined piles on the footpath, a transfer station outside of Fernvale that was like a mountain. I don't like taking photos of people’s misfortune, but I shot these ones of the river to show the force of it. Everything was completely coated in dried mud.

All were taken just down from Wivenhoe Dam at a place called Wivenhoe Pocket Road.

This is a 2 lane tarred road leading down to a causeway, the causeway is completely gone!


Crossing 1 by LJG_Images, on Flickr


A closer shot, you can see the drop off from the tarred road on the other side


Crossing by LJG_Images, on Flickr

High tension electricity cables just laying on the ground


High tension wires by LJG_Images, on Flickr


Somebodies water tank, the only thing that stopped it was the fact it got qrapped around the high tension electricity cables.


Tank by LJG_Images, on Flickr

[LJG]

If you look closely halfway up this tree you will see something, the next shot shows what it is


Chair by LJG_Images, on Flickr

Here is is, somebodies chair


Chair 2 by LJG_Images, on Flickr

The road signs didn't stand a chance


Sign by LJG_Images, on Flickr

Notice the white object in the tree? It is half an internal door from somebodies house


Door by LJG_Images, on Flickr

It just tried to take everything in its path


Tree by LJG_Images, on Flickr

Last one. I would have been well and truly under water standing where I shot this from and I was near the top of the hill


Width by LJG_Images, on Flickr

I can tell you one thing, I hope I never live to see the likes of this again. So many lives and property destroyed. I just don't know how some will ever recover.

[ScottH]

Wow, that Chair shot is really quite unbelievable. It is so high up.
I heard stories of 8m wall of water, whcih is pretty hard to fathom, but seeing that shot adds some credence to the story.

Great set Lloyd.

[Lost]

Spooooooky stuff Lloyd; thanks for sharing. can i email the chair photos to my mother who has family around Lowood?

I feel there will be many like your mate over the next months/years. It would so hard to lose everything and many will not have to will to start again.

BTW: the upper Brisbane valley has some great photo spots for anyone who wants to head up there. Spend a few $$ while there will help those who will not ask for help. Any chance of a photo meet up by the brisbane/north coast/Toowoomba members?

[aslan]

Very powerful images Lloyd. They certainly give a sense of scale to the outflow.

[LJG]

Thanks Scott. The whole day was quite harrowing. Driving out his street there is a cemetery where burial services were taking place on Australia day, it is just beyond belief that this has all happened. I fear that this is just the start of many more who are going to quietly slip into the depths of depression.

Male depression is something that is hidden due to our stupid stupid pride and we don't always pick the signs. I guess us males are pretty hopeless really when it comes to reading peoples true feelings, then wham, something like that hits you out of the blue and you feel, well, helpless. You want to help, but really just don't know how.

Then after spending the day with him and seeing all this on the way home I felt completely emotionally drained. The road ahead is going to be long and bumpy for so many it is just heart wrenching. It certainly makes you take stock and realise just how lucky some of us are.

Yep, no worries Ian, but I guess he's probably seen worse out there himself

Thanks Andrew, yes, considering it is normally just a quiet trickle along there it really brings it home just how much water was on the move.

[LJG]

Sorry, just as an aside to this, I took all the shots with the 15-85, what does everyone think of the IQ. I know everything looks brown, but that's because everything has had a liberal dousing of mud, but that aside do you think I am getting my settings sorted for this lens please?

[ScottH]

Thanks Scott. The whole day was quite harrowing. Driving out his street there is a cemetery where burial services were taking place on Australia day, it is just beyond belief that this has all happened. I fear that this is just the start of many more who are going to quietly slip into the depths of depression.

Male depression is something that is hidden due to our stupid stupid pride and we don't always pick the signs. I guess us males are pretty hopeless really when it comes to reading peoples true feelings, then wham, something like that hits you out of the blue and you feel, well, helpless. You want to help, but really just don't know how.

Then after spending the day with him and seeing all this on the way home I felt completely emotionally drained. The road ahead is going to be long and bumpy for so many it is just heart wrenching. It certainly makes you take stock and realise just how lucky some of us are.

Yep, no worries Ian, but I guess he's probably seen worse out there himself

Thanks Andrew, yes, considering it is normally just a quiet trickle along there it really brings it home just how much water was on the move.

Sounds quite similar to the Black Saturday issues.
Sad, that things like this affect people in this way.

I remember the feeling I had driving through the fire ravaged areas. And it is easy to understand how people can slip through the cracks.

Hopefully your friend comes through this with a brighter look on life.

[loose cannon]

Sorry to hear about your mate Lloyd, I hope he gets the help and support he needs. Good on you for being there for him.

I've seen floods before but nothing on this scale, not even close.

The image of the chair says it all for me. The people in the frame give some perspective and it's hard to comprehend or imagine the raging torrent that passed through that area. And that's just one location on one river. Mindboggling.

With regard to the IQ these images look spot on to me.

Thanks for sharing these Lloyd.

[Alan]

Saw some of these on Flickr and was just stunned by the height height the water reached - can only imagine the power behind it.

The devastation to the land is saddening, but it will recover - the devastation to people's lives is far worse and many may never recover

[Mikey054]

What can I say,Lloyd. The poor buggers copped a hiding.Thinking of them.
Mike

[LJG]

Sounds quite similar to the Black Saturday issues.
Sad, that things like this affect people in this way.

I remember the feeling I had driving through the fire ravaged areas. And it is easy to understand how people can slip through the cracks.

Hopefully your friend comes through this with a brighter look on life.

Thanks Scott. So many do slip through the cracks. I spoke to him yesterday and he is a lot more positive and seemed to be off the emotional rollercoaster (which was what he was like on Wednesday)

Sorry to hear about your mate Lloyd, I hope he gets the help and support he needs. Good on you for being there for him.

I've seen floods before but nothing on this scale, not even close.

The image of the chair says it all for me. The people in the frame give some perspective and it's hard to comprehend or imagine the raging torrent that passed through that area. And that's just one location on one river. Mindboggling.

With regard to the IQ these images look spot on to me.

Thanks for sharing these Lloyd.

Thanks Mick, The chair and door were what did it for me too, such a stark reminder. Going back to what Scott said about Black Saturday, a totally different problem but in a similar way I really don’t think some people are scared enough of natural phenomenon, or the brute force of nature at its worst.

Sure, most are, but so many think they are invincible. No, it won’t get us, we’ll fight it and win! Seriously, not up the range in Toowoomba or Grantham, they had no warning at all, but some in the closer areas towards Brisbane had ample warning it was coming and did very little. We live 2klm in a straight line from the river on flat ground and still had our cars packed and ready to go. Luckily it did not break its banks where we are.

Saw some of these on Flickr and was just stunned by the height height the water reached - can only imagine the power behind it.

The devastation to the land is saddening, but it will recover - the devastation to people's lives is far worse and many may never recover

Alan, I was even shocked at the height it reached up there, I was standing under that tree with one of the local SES volunteers and was just gobsmacked at how high the water went. He told me he was manning the roadblock further back up the road at the time and said people actually argued with him because they wanted to try and get through because it meant a 4 hour drive if they had to go the alternate route. He said some just could not understand they couldn’t drive through water like that. When I asked him what he said to them he just replied. “I just told them 4 hours was nothing compared to the rest of your life”. I was stunned people would be that stupid.

What can I say,Lloyd. The poor buggers copped a hiding.Thinking of them.
Mike

Thanks Mike. Yes, it leaves you speechless.

[loose cannon]

Lloyd, this is one of my all time favourite quotes;

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe..." ~ A.Einstein.

I think Albert was onto something here.