Cleaning up after floods

My clean-up after the local flooding here is bigger than I expected... after everything had almost dried, I had a chance to take a proper look and get to work cleaning up under the house.

Part of work area under house,
during clean-up showing erosion from flood water.

I thought I could cope with the clean-up on my own, after all it's comparatively nothing compared to what others in Brisbane have experienced. But to me it's a lot, as I've now lost a fair amount of what I've spent the last 6 years setting up to produce artwork to supplement my limited income from a disability pension and am struggling to get my head around the clean-up let alone the physical challenges. But I'm often very resourceful and know I will get through it one way or another.

Queensland Floods

My heart goes out to all the Queenslanders affected by the floods, and I wish you all a safe and speedy recovery.

I've received a few enquiries from concerned friends... the floods being shown on TV did not affect me here, as I live on an island. I did however have a substantial amount of rainwater over the last few weeks running down the hill on which my house sits (or stands, depending on your point of view, as it is on "stilts"), which resulted in a mud pit under the house as well as the usual stagnant water in the front yard which almost always happens after the rain here.

The downside to the mud under the house, is that I won't be able to do much woodworking until I've cleaned up there, but I am thankful that I didn't put my gym there which the removalist suggested would be the best place for it, when I moved in. I was kind of prepared, and had raised everything I could off the ground soon after moving here, so thankfully the damage is minimal.

I am also very pleased to say that as from this morning, I've now heard from all my friends that they're all safe and none suffered anything serious... and I am so very grateful for that!

I think the street name needs to swap with another nearby... "Deepwater".

The Queensland Premier has set up a website for those wishing to make a donation to help people affected by the floods, but please beware there are also unscrupulous websites with false links for donations... the proceeds of which end up lining their own pockets. If in doubt, please refer to the media for the correct links to the Queensland Premier's website for flood donations www.qld.gov.au/floods

You may also like to visit the Australian government's Scam Watch website for further warnings of scams arising from the floods, as well as other scams.

If you found this post interesting, you may also like to read these articles,

Digital Armageddon for flood victims containing some useful data recovery tips, and Flood devastation mapped by high-res sky cams.