*We are safe*...

Hello everyone. I just wanted to respond and say thank-you to all the numerous e-mails, sms texts, facebook comments and phone calls we received yesterday regarding our situation here with the floods in Caboolture. I know our family and friends overseas and in the northern parts of Queensland, were very concerned. But thankfully, we are safe.

Because I want to record these moments in our lives I will try to document what happened with "Our Little Family" as events unfolded yesterday. After all, that's what I do here! LOL!! Words and photos right!

Late Monday night we went to bed with shocking and horrifying images of the Toowoomba images fresh in our minds. I was so worried and concerned for my friends up there with the devastating flash floods up on the hill. Yes. On the hill. By now everyone knows about what happen. It is world wide news.

Unimaginable.

Just let me clarify, that we were never and currently are not in danger to that magnitude. Even though we received the National Emergency text.

"Immediate Flash Flood Warning from SES for Caboolture, Burpengary Areas. Very high water levels in Rivers and Creeks. Seek higher ground NOW."

Frightening? Most definitely when you have four children aged 10 and under in the house.

We woke yesterday morning to the crack of lightning and the boom of thunder. Massive thunder. Water was already streaming down our street.

We are in a situation here that because we live on a bend in the road, this time with the heavy rain the gutters are not able to cope with the downpour. The road yesterday, became a river and it was headed straight to our front door.

I didn't want Mark to go to work. He works for the Brisbane City Council right on the Brisbane River. At this point even if it were urgent for him to get to work, he couldn't. The minor roads around us were cut by rising waters.

Fortunately it didn't get any higher than our front door. But the water was rising in our backyard.

The overflow drain pipe beside our property was gushing. It could no longer direct the flow of water let alone hold it. The debris along our fence line seem to act as a small barrier and dam it for a while. But breaks in it allowed waterfalls to pour freely into our backyard.

We went back to the television to see what was happening and saw even more destructive images of Toowoomba, Helidon, Grantham and surrounding areas.

I called my friend Leanne, very concerned for her welfare and her young family's safety. I also suspected she would know the situations of other online friends. Thankfully she was safe.

The next little while was a blur. I was glued to the tv, watching images of everything happening and frantically wondering about the constant heavy rainfall here.

We were in front of the tv when a brief "breaking news" story hit the airways about Caboolture. All I heard was "Caboolture needs to be evacuated NOW. Do not hesitate to leave. Get out now. " And then the power went out.................. Just like that. Seriously.

Mark went out to check on our neighbours and to see if they had heard more about the situation. I started to back some bags to go along with the emergency kit I'd already put together. During this moment of panic, Leanne sent me a text to see how I was holding out. Little did I know when I spoke to her earlier what was coming for us.

Our neighbours had one of their boys at Summer School. They had gone for a drive to see what was happening out and about. They took their camera with them and took some amazing photos. At this point they were also concerned about getting their son home and went to collect him early, managing only just, to get home. They were all with us when the emergency text came through.

By the time we got this message though, we had no where to go.

Towards Elimbah...

These guys risked it. I wasn't about to take my children through fast flowing water. Many got caught and had to be towed out by one of our neighbours who owns a semi-trailer. He had to go through water up to the truck's headlights! Even 4x4's got caught.

So we waited it out. On our own little island on high-ish ground. The power came back on after a few hours. Thankfully Cam slept through most of it. The rain eased in the afternoon and by 10pm last night, the waters had started to recede.

This morning amazingly, we have no rain. It's not clear skies but at least the roads have been opened. We were able to stock up on a few groceries, as did everyone else in the shire!!! LOL!

So thank-you again to all those who sent messages of concern. I'm absolutely certain that my story is insignificant to the thousands of others who have lost lives, property, family members and even pets. My heart goes out to them. The devastation is wide spread. I can only hope and pray more survivors are found and the destruction is not as tremendous as is predicted by the experts. Please keep the victims in your thoughts and prayers. We will need all the help we can get in the coming months.....x