Disaster & despair leads to hope & humanity

Sitting in my home this afternoon seems a world away from where I have spent the last week.  As most people are aware, Queensland has experience in many ways unprecedented flooding to 3/4 of our State.  Lives have been lost and worlds shattered.  


On Tuesday 11th January, I received a call at work asking me to have a bag packed and ready to go at work the following day as a member of the Queensland Health team who were responding to the flood disasters.  As 20 of us gathered the next day at Princess Alexandra Hospital, we didn't even know where we were being deployed to or how long we would be away.  What we did know is that we were a group of mainly social workers who barely knew each other, but shared a willingness to reach out to assist those in need.  We departed naive to what lay ahead and for me personally this may have been to my advantage.  


We were deployed to the Toowoomba area, but subsequently spent the majority of our time in the Lockyer Valley region which had been devastated by flash flooding a couple of days before we arrived.  Flying up on the little fixed wing 8 seater plane, we had a birds eye view of the impact of the flood on South East Queensland.  Many areas had turned into inland seas.  It was incredible.  


The gravity of the floods unfolded to us over the next few days as we learnt first hand from survivors of the tragedies and miracles they experienced.  We saw the destructive pathway the water took as it carved its way through communities in our daily travels to support and assist all who had been effected.  Yet in the midst of this catastrophe, I was able to witness so much humanity and outpouring of love for our fellow beings.  I shed tears of sadness, along with tears of gratitude.  Strangers reaching out to strangers; neighbours helping neighbours.  The outpouring of generosity and community spirit was literally tangible.  I attended disaster management meetings and saw all levels of government pull together to achieve heroic outcomes of restoring power, roads, water and attend compassionately to common human needs.  Barriers which usually existed were swept away by the raging flood waters.


This whole experience has been a reminder of what is important.  I sit here in my home with all my possessions in tact, with easy access to all that I need.  The Lockyer Valley has touched my life and helped me put into perspective the year ahead.   I am humbled to have stood with my colleagues from Queensland Health, Red Cross, Dept of Communities etc and contribute in a small way to support others.   There is a long way to go for these communities to heal and recover, but they will and let us not forget them as we sit in the comfortableness of our lives.