Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Queensland, Australia flood appeal

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Note: This, as you may imagine by the title of this post, has nothing to do with what CraftGossip posts regularly. However, we, Shellie and Vikram and our two kids, live in Brisbane, Australia, where there is a rapidly evolving flood situation which has touched us personally, so we would like to launch this appeal. Regular CraftGossip posts continue beneath.

Floods in Queensland

We have been stuck in the house for the last two days. The kids are driving us nuts, it is humid and wet and the local supermarket shelves are running dry. We have power, mobile phone access and Internet and drinking water. We are safe, and so is our house amidst the biggest natural disaster that we have ever seen happen in front of us.

Queensland is the second largest state in terms of size, in Australia. To give you some perspective, it is nearly 2.5 times the size of Texas, and roughly 7 times the size of United Kingdom.

And 75% of this state is a disaster zone due to floods. Luckily, we live in one of the remaining 25%. However, we are completely surrounded by devastation all around us.

One of the worst hit areas due to these floods have been Grantham and Toowomba, around 3 hours from the state capital, Brisbane. There is a video below that shows a wave of Inland Tsunami that flattened everything in its path. It is a terrifying watch (the video repeats itself after the 1:35 mark, so you can stop watching then).

[youtube BoV-Wjo7mZ8]

Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland, while Ipswich, where we live, is next to it. Brisbane river is expected to peak at 5.5 mts (18 feet) tomorrow. Ipswich’s Bremer river peaked at 19.7 mts (65 feet)!

Brisbane CBD, where I (Vikram) used to work, is under water at the very moment. Suncorp Stadium, home of rugby and soccer games is covered in dirty muddy water and it is rising to fill spectator seats. It is bizzare to see the stadium’s million dollar turf under water from the choppers. It is equally bizzare to see, my place of previous work, University of Queensland at St. Lucia, completely submerged. It is beyond words.

See the following video:

[youtube HUZgJ6nZwm8]

It is surreal to watch so many areas that we regularly visit to be under water. Absolutely mind boggling. Thankfully, everyone we know is safe and sound.

So far, there are 12 dead, 59 missing. For more information, you can visit these sites:

Brisbane Times and CNN’s page on the disaster.

Queensland Government has an appeal out where it is requesting donations. If you would like to help out, please visit their site directly: http://www.qld.gov.au/floods/donate.html

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Comments

  6. We have our share of annual floods in the U.S., but nothing like this in scope. The pictures and video are incredible and devastating. We wish you the best and will keep you all in our thoughts and prayer.

  7. Thank you for letting us know about this. You must be going batty!!! Post as often as you like because you are not alone. Oh wait,… maybe you’d like some “alone” time if your kids are driving you batty… we will be your refuge. xoxo Amy in No. California

  10. My dears,

    What an unbelieable horror. My thoughts and prayers are with you and all of your countrymen. Best wishes for the safety of all of you.

  12. It is hard to keep your head up in the face of such devastation, but the important thing is people.
    My prayers are for the safety of all.

  15. My heart goes out to you guys over there. It is such a tragedy.
    I’m in Perth so we are hearing all the interviews and the all day news reports and it goes to show that although tragic, people seem to show their best side in times of a crisis, there have been a lot of heroes emerge and perhaps this is the one good thing to come out of it all.
    Glad to hear that you and yours are all safe. My thoughts are with you guys. 🙂

  16. We are watching these stories unfold from Western Australia, and it is not only unfathomable, but terribly, terribly sad.
    Our thoughts and prayers are with all Aussies on the East coast.

  18. Thank you for posting this. My hubby is from Brisbane and we CANNOT believe how incredibly devastating this has been.
    You are all in our thoughts and prayers.
    I’ll show him the link when he gets home.

    advance Australia fair…

  19. Australia has to be the most insane place to live! Most of the time it is a dry desert, and then along comes a giant flood. Watching on TV from across the ditch, I can’t believe the scale of things.
    My uncle lives near you in Springfield Lakes, he is up the hill so hopefully his house is ok. He checked on it in the weekend, but who knows whats going on now! He was/is camping at the top of NSW which is also flooded!
    I can’t believe after so many years of water restrictions, the scale and amount of water now!
    Do you know if they decided to open the dam in the end? Last we heard they were discussing it. If so, was that the cause of the inland tsunami?

    Thinking of you all
    D

  20. sending all our love and support from Sydney.
    its just so unbelievable! 🙁
    good luck and stay safe queenslanders!
    Dom.
    xx

  21. Just horrid! The world is watching, and our arms are outstretched to Australia. We lift you up in our prayers. Such a blessing that more people have not died in this…what devastation! It’s like our flood of New Orleans, but on such a huge scale. Thank you so much for sharing this on your site!
    Kathy

  22. Sending support from Toronto as well…this is really the worst flood in Australia history, if I am right. Be strong!

    And watch out for snakes, I have heard there are quite a lot.

Have you read?

Learning about Finland for Kids

Finland is a country in Northern Europe bordered by Sweden, Norway and Russia, as well as the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Let’s learn more about this Nordic country. 

Finland Basics

Finland is 130,678 square miles, or 338,455 square kilometers, and is home to about 5.7 million people. 

Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish.

The area now known as Finland was first settled around 9000 BC, and it was part of Sweden from the late 13th century until 1809, when it became an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire. It declared independence in 1917 and it officially became a republic in 1919. It lost some territory to Russia after World War II but retained its independence.

It was the first country in Europe to grant its citizens universal suffrage, and the first in the world to allow all adult citizens to run for office. It is a Nordic style welfare state with an advanced economy and is often ranked as one of the countries with the happiest people in the world. 

It has a unitary parliamentary government, with a president and prime minister.

The name in Finnish is Suomi, and it’s not clear where the name came from but it seems to have a common original with the Sámi, indigenous people from the Nordic region and Russia. 

Finland National Symbols

The flag of Finland has a white background with a blue Nordic cross (which looks like a Christian cross on its side) in the center. It is said that the blue represents the nation’s thousands of lakes (there are more than 180,000 recorded lakes in the country) as well as the sky.

The national anthem, “Maamme” in Finnish or “Our Land” in English, was originally written for the 500th anniversary of the town of Porvoo and was first performed in 1848. The song is not officially the national anthem but has been commonly used as the anthem since the nation’s independence. Estonia‘s national anthem uses the same tune. 

Finland’s coat of arms is a crowned heraldic lion on a red field, with the right front leg replaced by a human arm holding a sword. He’s also standing on a sabre and surrounded by nine roses. 

The Eurasian brown bear is the national animal, and the Finnhorse is the national horse. Finland’s national insect is the seven-spot ladybird and the national fish is the European perch. 

Lily of the valley is a floral emblem of Finland, and their national dog is the Finnish Spitz. In addition, granite, the silver birch, the Whooper swan and the holly blue butterfly are all considered national symbols. (You can read about several of these here.)

Finland Learning Activities for Kids 

Grab resources for teaching about Finland from Teachers Pay Teachers. Artsy Craftsy Mom also has a printable fact book you can purchase.

Make a tape resist Finnish flag with this idea from taidekoti. Or use watercolors to make the Northern Lights, which can be seen in Finland, with this project from The Pinterested Parent. And learn more about the Aurora Borealis in this video from Little School.

Learn more about the boreal forest/taiga biome, which covers the majority of Finland, with this resource from Let’s Talk Science. Talk about the differences between brown bears and grizzly bears, and pull out horse crafts and learning activities. 

Take a listen to some music performed on the kantele, the national instrument of Finland. 

Check out the Moomins, described as “with and roundish trolls with large snouts,” developed by Finnish author and illustrator Tove Jansson.

The national food of Finland is rye bread, so give it a try with this recipe from Zingerman’s. (It will still be good even if you don’t have freshly milled rye.)