Australia is under siege…and under water. The country is currently battling driving rainstorms and severe flooding that threatens to destroy not just its agricultural system, but also its economy. The following news report highlights the utter desolation: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/
According to the Google Crisis Response website, which was set up to help victims in the flood-ravaged areas, the places that appear to be suffering the greatest devastation are Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The site has posted a map of the flood zones, the phone numbers of volunteer agencies, and other valuable information for those interested in providing some form of assistance.
Priscilla Fox -- http://priscillaspink.blogspot.com -- a digital and social media project manager based in Sydney, provided “From The G-Man” with a first-hand account of the tremendous toll the flood is taking on food prices and distribution.
“The major supermarkets don’t have a lot of fresh fruit due to farms and agriculture being affected. A friend of mine couldn’t get fruit or milk today, and this is on the Gold Coast where they weren’t affected by the floods as badly as Brisbane,” said Fox.
“Some have said because of the great monopoly our two major supermarkets have, they only buy from some suppliers and won’t from others, even though I’m sure there are lots of other Australian suppliers that would be happy to provide products. Therefore, everyone suffers! If this is true, they certainly have had a stranglehold on supply and pricing of groceries for way too long,” Fox concluded.
Priscilla Fox served as a special correspondent on this story.
In order to give people in the U.S. a sense of how bad the situation is, Fox also took the liberty of submitting video footage/links of the extensive damage being caused by what many Australians describe as “the worst flooding in 35 years”. The footage captures parked cars being lifted and swept downstream by the force of the rising and surging water.
“I am now living in Sydney, but it hasn’t rained a lot here. However, when I returned home for Christmas and New Year’s, it was extremely humid and raining practically non-stop! The flooding has been, and continues to be, horrendous for many,” stated Fox.
If you would like to make a donation toward the flood relief effort or offer your services as a volunteer, visit the link below. The people “down under” desperately need support.
http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/queensland_floods.html
2 comments:
Thanks Gary, the devastation has been huge and the floods have also hit Victoria. Today being Australia Day has brought out such a community spirit and a lot of events are raising money for the flood victims. Thank you to all who have donated or sent wishes. Australia thanks you, "Thanks mate!"
The good news here is less lives were lost in the devasting Australia floods than in the ones that followed in Brazil.
Most of my Facebook Australian friends were not badly affected by the flooding, but were affected after due to deliveries not being able to be made to stores.
I heard the areas affected were as large as France and Germany combined. Yet media has moved on, not reporting on recovery efforts which is of interest to me. How does ones life go on after their car was tossed about like a toy (for one)?
Thank you G-man and Priscilla.
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