It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
Originally posted by Kryties
UPDATE:
www.smh.com.au...
A dam and a prayer
The devastating flood has left whole families missing, now a mighty dam built to protect Brisbane after its last major flood disaster is at bursting point, reports David Humphries.
WITH the dead and missing in its wake, the worst flood in 100 years is building towards Brisbane as Australia's third-biggest city holds its breath and hopes a dam 80 kilometres to its west can keep back enough water to avoid a disaster of biblical proportions.
The Wivenhoe Dam - built to spare the Queensland capital a repeat of devastating floods in 1974 - is at its limit. ''And they now have to discharge that water [further swelling the Brisbane River] … because more is on the way,'' the lord mayor, Campbell Newman, said yesterday of the ''huge challenge'' facing Wivenhoe authorities.
www.smh.com.au...
au.news.yahoo.com...
Wivenhoe put to the ultimate test
Brisbane's main defence from a catastrophic flood is facing an unprecedented test as heavy rain continues to inundate southern Queensland.
Further upstream the Wivenhoe Dam, built in the wake of the deadly 1974 floods, is pumping record amounts of water over its spillway as the flood situation rapidly changes.
Last night releases from Wivenhoe's five gates were at about 236,000 megalitres, but that level will be increased today.
'Catastrophic'
Professor Chanson says the dam operators have been progressively releasing water from the dam to prevent it filling.
"If the Wivenhoe become full up to the stage where the water in the reservoir is very close to the crest of the dam, it would mean a situation where the operators of the dam would have to open fully the gate of the spillway," he said.
"Anything coming into the reservoir would have to be immediately discharged."
He says it would be catastrophic if water made it over the top of the dam wall.
"The Wivenhoe Dam is not designed to be overtopped, it is what we call an embankment dam. And if water was to flow over the top of the crest of the dam, there would be a very high risk of erosion of the dam wall and ultimately failure of the dam," he said.
"If the water was to spill over the top of the crest of the dam we would look at the failure of the dam on the possible complete emptying of the reservoir into the Brisbane River with deadly consequences for the people living downstream."
au.news.yahoo.com...
If the dam breaks it will make the current flood look like a puddle.
I don't think I can sleep tonight, even though I'm down here in Sydney I have relatives up there, thankfully safe at the moment but that could change in a heartbeat.
Originally posted by crazydaisy
Do you know if American is sending aid? I certainly hope so!
Originally posted by DaWhiz
reply to post by Yissachar1
All I can say is WOW!
As I read the OP, I started looking for lists of who is helping Australia and so far all I see is UNICEF. This is bad because the first thing I should have seen was American Red Cross. For an event this big from a country that has provided aide in the past, there seems to be something dubious about the lack of news coverage for an event that is bigger than Katrina.
I'm of the opinion that maybe we should just do it ourselves. Maybe the OP can provide a place where we can just use FedEx, USPS, UPS and the like to just send supplies. We can collect canned goods, water and food and just send it directly. It sickens me to know that no one is acting to help these people in need, just like it sickened me during Katrina watching those people suffer.
Originally posted by Yissachar1
HERE IS WHERE you will find all the information needed to give to the disaster appeal.
Sending stuff to Oz is very expensive and can take weeks to get there especially by ship. Giving money is the best thing to do in this case and will help with rebuilding after the floods have past
Salvation Army Officer Captain Peter McQuigan says they have a team of about 40 people cooking and distributing food to the evacuation centre.
He says a lot of the food is purchased from local producers and suppliers.
"But on top of that there's lots of donations coming in from the general public and that includes private citizens and businesses in town, coming and donating food to be used," he says.
Salvation Army Major Margaret Dobbie and Judy Langlands from Ipswich flew to Rockhampton to help prepare food for the hundreds of emergency service personnel dealing with the Fitzroy River flooding. Photo: Chris Ison ROK010111
AS Queensland struggles to recover from floods of ‘biblical proportions', Ipswich volunteers have gone to the aid of devastated flood victims.
Originally posted by Blaine91555
Salvos Cook For Hundreds
Salvation Army Officer Captain Peter McQuigan says they have a team of about 40 people cooking and distributing food to the evacuation centre.
He says a lot of the food is purchased from local producers and suppliers.
"But on top of that there's lots of donations coming in from the general public and that includes private citizens and businesses in town, coming and donating food to be used," he says.
Ipswich To The Rescue.
Salvation Army Major Margaret Dobbie and Judy Langlands from Ipswich flew to Rockhampton to help prepare food for the hundreds of emergency service personnel dealing with the Fitzroy River flooding. Photo: Chris Ison ROK010111
AS Queensland struggles to recover from floods of ‘biblical proportions', Ipswich volunteers have gone to the aid of devastated flood victims.
As I already knew I would find, the Salvation Army is knee deep in helping. Not making promises of money that may or may not show up in a few months as governments do; Not dragging their feet, mired in a bureaucratic mess like the very political Red Cross, dotting "I's" and crossing "T's" but Right in the middle of things helping people who need help.
Link to Salvation Army in Australia.
40,000 properties are at risk from floodwater expected to hit Brisbane Some areas lying 60 feet under water Women and children among 78 still missing Tens of thousands of people have been told to flee Australia’s third largest city as catastrophic floods loom At least 40,000 homes are at risk from the waters expected to hit the centre of Brisbane today and tomorrow. Floods raging down from the north combined with water released from a dam to prevent it bursting created a huge wave that was surging bursting created a huge wave that was surging towards the city of two million people under sheets of drenching rain. Six inches fell in one hour