HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I think people in Brisbane are probably sick of hearing about the floods which is why I hesitated before posting this one. Having said that, it was the defining event of the year for my family and many others in Queensland and it is appoaching the one year anniversary so I'm giving it another airing here.
This photo was taken on January 14th at 6am - just before we walked back into our flat to see what awaited us. The water had subsided really quickly overnight - this street had been under two metres of water 24 hours before I took this shot - and the belongings which had been floating around in the murky water for days landed haphazardly all over the streets. Our first floor flat got about 30-40cm - not enough to be a disaster but enough to have to dismantle cupboards and floorboards and get rid of some of our larger furniture.
We were among the lucky ones - Aside from the hard work put in by countless volunteers during the immediate aftermath, we had friends with enough room to take us in and give us the phone number of a good plumber, plasterer, electrician and tiler. The son of a friend of ours painted our walls for free. We had enough money to bridge the gap before the claim money came in. We moved back into our flat with a brand new tiled floor on Valentine's Day and had a brand new kitchen fitted by about April. By that time a lot of people were still waiting for insurance money to come in before starting to rebuild.
Aside from the story behind the photo, I just like the oddness of stuff being where it's not supposed to be.
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I'm off on my holidays for a couple of weeks - back mid January!
12 comments:
Hah! This image is very familiar to me, Cara. Is is sitting on the wall behind my monitor in direct line of sight.
I wish health and contentment to you and to your family for 2012. Happy New Year!
I loved this photo then and I still do. Its a fantastic shot. All the best for 2012. Happy New Year.
Excellent photo that brings back many sad memories... One of our campuses is in Brisbane and many of my colleagues were affected severely by these floods. The way that everyone worked together to recover, clean up and rebuild was fantastic and a tribute to the fierce fighting spirit of Australians!
May 2012 be a wonderful year for you.
How could we forget. It's hard to believe it's one year already. Let's hope this year brings you no further problems but a happy and peaceful one. xxx
Happy New Year! Best wishes to you and yours for 2012.
You have had some great shots of the West End all year but you had to use this picture, it is a classic and sums up the floods. I did like the shot of the corner shop underwater, you haven't given us a shot of it for a while.
Hope you have had a great start to the NY.
I think you made a good choice. Happy New Year 2012, Cara!
A very poignant shot Cara. Have a wonderfully relaxing break and see you back in mid january.
Floods are really devastating, but it is because of flood that my relatives learned to appreciate my family.
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Gosh Cara, what a vision. Of course we remember the floods. I can understand your reservations about posting it but it definitely deserves to stand as photo of the year. In fact I'd love to have a print of it. Would it be possible to ask you for a large format of it?
Enjoy your holidays and I hope 2012 doesn't bring another disaster. That vast brown land sure can be tough sometimes.
PS - you made your story sound very positive compared to some others. Having to wait for insurance money before being able to rebuild your life and home is awful.
Amazing shot.
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