flood situation

Prayers for the Queensland Flood Situation

Sunday update....Prayers appreciated for all those affected by the magnitude of the floods in Queensland. At last count 22 towns have been affected by floods. (There are now at least two more towns affected by new rain falling currently. 12 inches of rain fell in the Mary River catchment yesterday, and more predicted). As some people return home from being evacuated, other people are preparing their towns for the flood waters about to come past their towns. Somebody from the army has been appointed head of a task force to manage to clean-up and reconstruction of these towns.
The Fitzroy River at the central Queensland town of Rockhampton peaked at 9.2 meters a couple of days ago. But it will take days or weeks to recede. Currently (Sunday update 9/01/2011) it is back down to 9.1 meters!! The airport is still closed there, although the road to the north is open so goods can be trucked in from towns further north, luckily. The really nasty part for residents is the fact that there are many many snakes in the water, as well as the possibility of crocodiles.
The impact of the floods will be a much greater event than just flooded houses, as apparently Queensland exports almost a third (some one tells me it is a half) of the world's coking coal, and the ports and mines are all closed at this stage. Open cut mines are full of water, miners can't get to work, and the roads and railways are cut to the ports. Even the coal at the ports currently can't be loaded because it is too heavy to load!
The worst part of this event is that our wet season is only half over, and the predicted extra 50-100 mms (2 to 4 inches) of rain is now falling over the flood affected areas here in the South East.

Thanks you for your prayers.