Hey fellow Aussies,

Just checking in to see how folks up here in QLD got through the last weekend? I know of at least one member (jaksbak@freel2) who lives up the coast some, hopefully you are fine?

No dramas for us, just lost power (and therefore our water) for 48 hours but was straight back into work Tuesday.

Despite a few flooded roads at times nearby there were no opportunities for smug wading unfortunately, although I am not too sure I would risk it since they seem to be really pushing the 'If it is flooded, forget it' message. In fact, the only time I was actually out over the weekend and came across a flooded road it was up to 800mm so I quickly turned around and went the long way!

Hope you're all good,
Whytey 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

Jak got hit pretty hard. A few posts on the end of my high country thread.

All I can say is we got lucky a few trees down around the estate and the power tripped but it came back on. But at least we should be right for the next 200 years with the 1 in a 100 year flood

Jak did indeed get hit pretty hard, a lot of people enjoy his tales on here, this is his quote from the other thread, I have posted it here as it is relevant and I am sure many people may have missed it from the other thread.

Our thoughts are with you Jak and I hope everything gets sorted out for you.

Paul


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Quoted from Jaksbak@freel2

- had an 8 foot croc spotted just a few metres away from our property today. Problem was - it was in flood waters, so venturing in to save assets is now more "challenging". If you haven't heard, Maryborough has suffered record level (and record speed) floods, so we have lost almost everything. My logging on to the Freel2 forum is last minute therapy before grabbing what cash I have available and absconding to Thailand or Myanmar!
The FL2 performed extremely well in the flooded waters towing tourist cabins to higher grounds. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late and 90% of them went under. We had what we thought was a brilliant system after 3 flood summers in a row, but when the waters got to about 1 metre deep around our cabins, the tractor blew up (no snorkel - doh!) we were doomed. No commercial operators would work in flood waters (insurance and liability threats) so we had to sit and watch our live(s) work go under. I would have paid $100,000 for a big old tractor that day, but nobody was selling (dumb!).
I'm guessing a million dollars damage, but it could be more. Many of my residents and staff have lost everything except the shirts on their back, so if we can salvage anything in the coming years we will be better off than some. Did I mention, no insurance for floods?
Towards the end of yesterday I was getting desperate and a couple of gutsy locals with big-arse Landcruisers towed a couple of cabins from our initial evac point to extra high ground. At about 1 metre deep and a threat of drowning the FL2, an old local told me to drape a tarp over the bonnet and maintain a decent bow-wave. I did and made it through to the surprise of hundreds of rubber-neckers. There were many converts to the FL2 that day I suspect. As if to break the depression over these past days, we've had some lovely visits from interesting snakes, leggless lizards that looked like snakes, a rare Mary River Turtle and a beautiful pair of black swans. After being up to my neck and even having to duck-dive into flood waters on numerous occasions, I'm glad I didn't know about the croc!
If I can remember how to post pictures, I will add another submission, though there never seemed to be time to take snaps.

Geez!!

One of my first thoughts watching the disaster unfold was how jak was coping, knowing he is from up the Fraser Coast! Never met the fellow but reading his post really hits home at how close and real the issue is. A sensation of complete uselessness just ran over me right now! Our 48 hours without power is absolutely nothing in comparison and wont be whined about any more!

Thanks for posting Taz! I had missed his post with being unable to check in over the weekend. 1st time FL2 owner. 2007 SE i6 in Tambora Flame.

Again, late at night when the phones stop ringing is a time to take stock and to establish some form of everyday reality and this forum, made up of a random bag of mixed socks feels comfortable. The damage to assets after our disaster is far worse than expected and many lives have been completely torn apart. Rather than abscond to Thailand, I rang the bank and asked if it would be OK to extend the loan a tad - perhaps another million??? Fortunately, they were able to get to our town for a personal visit and when they saw the devastation and heard about our efforts, decided to give us the thumbs up. A number of our staff lost absolutely everything except their phones, cars and clothes on their back. We therefore must be grateful as we have only lost about 10 years of hard work. At the end of the day, we only face another series of zeros on our loan account. We were never able to insure against floods and this one, which smashed us convincingly, in now an official "One-In-200-Year" flood event. Great! I feel much better. My brother is bringing spare parts for our tractor tomorrow, which drowned, apparently only blowing a head gasket, so we can extricate about 5 or 6 cabins which have been found down-river - some wedged into trees!. The FL2 continues to impress everyone, despite being covered in mud both internally and externally. In the back street of our tourist park we face almost complete devastation as we look at our neighbors. The roads are covered with debris. Yet, when I climb into the FL2 with my mud covered boots and everything else, there is a split second of feeling like I'm above it all.
I was brought to tears when an old lady up our street on higher grounds came down and said she had no money nor physical capacity to help but did have an oven and an old skill to bake biscuits. They were the best biscuits any of us had ever tasted! Another young girl turned up and told us she had taken the day off work and wanted to help. She was wearing boots and carried a massive broom and a pair of gloves. Makes me swell up. I posted an extra couple of photos into my gallery to give people perspective.

I live in Burnett Heads - the tornado missed us by 200m. Very surreal expeience walking out of your own intact house to see neighbours houses torn apart.

Best wishes to you and yours, Jak. Glad to hear the bank has done the right thing by you.

Spelcheck - you did get lucky. Tornadoes are almost never mentioned in Australia, let alone witnessed and experienced, so you are lucky to have escaped the devastation. Whilst we have suffered extreme losses, they are only material. Everyone is OK, physically at least. We started rebuilding today and whilst we have a long road ahead, it's keeping us focused and busy. Floods here average one in ten years, but we have had 4 floods in 3 years, so I suspect we are having a bad run. I hope this is not a sign of climate change or something similar that it making weather patterns more extreme and more regular.?

Update: You wouldn't believe it - there was yet another flood a day or two after my previous post. 5 floods in 25 months! Not so much a flood that caused devastation like the previous one (8.1 versus 10.7meters) , more a pain in the bloody bottom because we had to re-evacuate what we had previously restored, causing a loss of about 6-7 days in our recovery efforts.
Despite all that, we are now about 85% back on track and the vast majority of our guests wouldn't know we were a disaster victim only 3-4 months ago. Still afloat - just!

Jak!!, your strong will and abundant optimism is the absolute definition of inspirational!. I dont know how I could ever handle what you guys and the neighbors are going through just now mate.

07
(I salute you sir!)

Thanks LR. Very little else we can do - keep busy and try not to worry!