(Following on from part 1)
We were all very tired from worrying, packing and lots of travelling. We desperately needed sleep. Even then I was really impressed how we care for one another, one sister Gail decided to sleep on the floor so that Christine and I could have our own room. Even though Oliver's house, oops, I meant mansion, is huge, we managed to fill every bedroom. Prior to sleeping everyone were glued to the television trying to find out what would happened next. The authorities predicted that the Brisbane would rise to 5.5 metres which would break the 1974 flood record. This is amazing because since 1974, a flood mitigation dam (Wivenhoe) was constructed to reduce flooding in the Brisbane river flood plain. The fact was that we had received a record breaking rain days before into the catchment. We also had rain in the Toowoomba area which led to inland tsunami that killed dozens of people. The rain that felt in the Toowoomba area did not fall into the Wivenhoe's catchment area. And finally there was the king tide! Wivenhoe was threatening to overflow and some water had to be released. This is why the water level continue to rise even though the rain had stopped. This fooled many people into believing that they were safe.
Given the circumstances, we had a really good night sleep. On the morning of the 13th, I woke up to bird noises. Stretton didn't have as many bird sounds as did St. Lucia. Well you always have your crows but there were other really nice sounding birds that I didn't hear before. Well you definitely don't need alarm clocks in Australia! Coming in from the front door, Oliver's house has a huge lounge. The first floor has a large openning from which we can see this huge lounge. From this indoor balconey, I could see Mr and Mrs Au (Gavin's parents) practiced their Tai Chi. They were very graceful. It is amazing to see Mrs Au, she is very flexible and she is in her 60s! We couldn't see a single of part of Oliver's kitchen's bench because it was covered with food. We had food that we hurriedly packed and then food that Jenny had brought us from the night before. Breakfast was certainly not a simple affair, definitely not what I would normally have. And we are escaping a flood :-) ? Thinking back, this reminded me of verse 5 of Psalm 23 (my cup overflows ... our kitchen bench overflows??).
Even though we had so much food, we do have 12 people and so it was off to the nearby shopping centre. In spite of the television pictures, a large part of Brisbane was not directly affected by the flood. However, everyone were indirectly affected (and still is at the time of writing) because many of flooded areas are argiculture areas from which we source our meat, cereal and vegetables. The flooded roads also meant trucks carrying food stuff could not get through. To make matters even worse, the main food distribution centre, Rocklea, was also flooded. Having said that there were still a lot of food in the shops but fresh vegetables were not as plentiful as per usual. Some panic buying of food and vegetables did occur.
As I was still on call, I tried connecting my laptop to the work but even here the flood was having its impact. The telecommunication system was also affected as some telephone exchanges and mobile phone towers were also located in flooded areas.
Of the five family groups that were seeking refuge at Oliver's house, three of them have some flooding in their homes. Christine and I knew our homes were OK (except Christine and I had some concern about looting). Gail was concerned because the units on the other side of her street were starting to flood. It is amazing how different people react differently to news. My youngest sister Miriam has a friend whose was flooded in Warren St which is parallel to Durham St. Miriam automatically assumed that my father's unit would be flooded in Durham St. In spite of my assurance, my father called from Hong Kong to get me to return to check on his unit. Somehow the word "danger" just did not register in the minds of my extended family. The roads are closed and many did not having working traffic signals because of the lost of electricity. One man was sucked in the storm water drain precisely because he wanted to inspect his flooded home. It is interesting how different people reacted to crisis. On the one hand, those of us whose homes were mostly safe and those of us whose homes were already flooded or in danger of being flooded. As far as I can tell there was no panic or massive anxiety attack in our refuge. Yet my father, whose unit was still safe, continued to panic. As a Christian community I believe we had experienced the faithfulness of our heavenly Father. I am sure this was the best preparation one can ever have. Thinking back this reminded me of the hymn "Be Still, My Soul". Here's the first verse:
Be still, my soul:
the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently
the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God
to order and provide;
In every change,
He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul:
thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways
leads to a joyful end.
The authorities predicted that the Brisbane river would peak twice (during high tides). It peaked on the morning of the 13th and the afternoon of the 13th. The morning peak of the 13th only reached 4.46 Metres and not the predicted 5.5 Metres. Thank God, because that 1 Metre made a huge difference to what houses would be affected. I have other friends whose first floor was within two steps of being flooded. I was quietly confident (well not so quiet when I was trying to calm my father) that my father's unit was going to be OK. I called my pastor, Andrew Teo in Toowong and he was OK and even have electricity. However the church was closed by floods on three sides. As the water started to recede on the 14th (Friday), Andrew asked everyone to either come to church's prayer meeting or try to have a meeting at our place. On the evening of the 14th, Alvin (Alvin is himself a pastor at Sunnybank Baptists) and Cherry helped us organised a prayer meeting. We even sang my favourite "What the Lord Has Done in me". Verse 3 was very interesting given our circumstances:
I will rise from waters deep
Into the saving arms of God.
I will sing salvation songs;
Jesus Christ has set me free.
We really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit. Everyone was moved and I even prayed well in Cantonese! To top it off, Jenny brought us some really yummy Chinese dessert.
By the afternoon of the 14th the power was already back for our unit but a large part of St Lucia still had no power. Christine and I decided to stay one more night and return on the morning for the 15th.
On the morning of the 15th, Mrs Au had made some really yummy congee (rice porridge) for breakfast. Oliver was sad to see us leave. Actually we ourselves felt sad as the three days of forced evaculation were an amazing time of fellowship. I got know to the Au family quite well. Poor Gavin, even though the water has receded and he could get back to his unit, the lower floor flooding meant the unit was unlivable (they had lost what was flooded on the lower floor). Gavin now has to find a new unit to rent and house his sister and parents. There was also uncertainity for Gail, Alvin and March as they don't know whether they will have electricity in St Lucia. Furthermore the water was still rising when we left on the 12th.
Alvin decided to stay behind has he has to give a sermon on the 16th. I then led March and Gail back to St Lucia. We say goodbye to the Au family as their unit was in not in St Lucia. The travel back to St Lucia (heading North from Stretton) was good but the traffic became very heavy as we closed in on St Lucia. I took a longer way so as to bypass the massive traffic jam (some roads were still closed). We stopped by Gail's place and saw an Energex truck but sadly the Energex's crew said that the areas around Gail's place still had no electricity. March and Sophfina went to check their unit while Christine and I headed back home. Later Gail rang to say her power was back. After sorting out our things, I had a bit of time left and so I went down to help the local stores at the end of our street. There was literally an army of volunteers cleaning up. Some other locals were helping the Chinese grocery store to salvage some non-perishables. I got my shovel out to clean a driveway under a small shopping complex. The shovel also came in handy when removing ice cream containers out of freezers. All the ice cream and ice blocks have melted. It really stink! With the help of a completely unknown stranger, we lifted the freezer side way and poured out the watery content. We had to do it, it was mozzies breeder!. There was also mud to shovel from people's gardens. Sir Fred Schonell Drive look like war zone. Rubbish are piled up on the footpath but at least the road was passable with much effort from volunteers, the SES and the army. Shall write some more later... If you reading this please pray for the recovery. But with all this mess, I knew our city has changed. As Master Card would say:
"a bridge cost millions, a tunnel costed billions but a new community spirit ...priceless"
I remembered just as Christine, Sophfina, March and I left the house we prayed and I ask God why the flood....Now I know, out of the flooded water is a new community and may be even revival!
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