Brisbane Storm Season (What a Mess?!!)

Oooh I sometimes wonder at times like these if I am homesick or not. Crazy I know but at times I do miss the heat that drives everyone silly, the kind that ensures you are sleeping on top of your bed sheets, careful not to connect with your equally restless bed mate, unless you are a lucky one who happens to have air con. Funnily enough for my first 10 years of enduring Brisbane's summers, the only weapon I had to combat the sticky wet humidity each night was a squeaky ceiling fan. What I do miss is those powerful rain showers that appeared to come out of nowhere, when the lurking black clouds all of a sudden are upon you, and the rain is not just a light shower, it is a downpour and the usually pacey world has to stop and breathe it all in for a moment. All for 30 minutes, then the blistering sun shines once more and all you see is the steam rising from the roads.

Last week, Brisbane suffered a little more than a harmless storm. In fact my hometown has been getting bashed with a deluge of electrical storms, torrential rain and hail and gale force winds, which have ensured that once they were over, emergency services, the army, navy and apparently even some low security prisoners were enlisted to help clean up the mess. And apparently it is not even a little bit over yet. This is only November and December is traditionally cyclone season, but to be honest, Brisbane is not coastal and isn't usually at risk. Does this mean we are starting to really see the effects of Global Warming and Climate Change?

My mum sent me through these photos (after her electricity returned after almost a week and she was not alone).

All my Brissie pals had statuses on their Facebook to the effect of "enjoying a cuppa cooked on my neighbours BBQ" & "with the kids as school is closed"(of course they were using their mobiles to write these!) With stories of neighbours pulling together fixing fences, moping up and pitching in and helping one another really demonstrating the true Australian spirit. Kevid Rudd, our Prime Minister, even made a visit to some of the worst hit zones to inspect the damage.

I know, I know, stuff like this happens all over the world and quite a bit more severe too. Brisbane was very lucky, only one fatality occurred through all the mess. I guess however, when you have your mum sending you text messages like "Thank goodness I goto Boot Camp three time a week as I am now shifting a tree off the house and moving broken roof tiles", it takes me a little while to even comprehend this happening in my home. It also makes me smile too and wonder, where is my dad and why isn't he helping!?