The sound of helicopter blades has gone.
The media has pulled out of Brisbane’s flood zone.
As the water pulled away from the homes,
thick brown flood mud was exposed.
The stinking flood mud - which would
take a huge effort to clean.
... And then, they came.
The army of volunteers.
People carrying buckets and mops,
wearing boots, old clothes and gloves.
This is the true story of the floods.
When the waters pulled back and the home owners started the daunting clean-up, strangers arrived and helped.
People whose lives were scattered around them, broken and muddy, wiped back tears of gratitude and hope as strangers appeared.
These devastated people were able to stand tall and face the hard work because people were standing beside them.
Volunteers were turning up in incredible numbers.
Four assembly points were set up to coordinate them.
Lines of volunteers (over a kilometre long), formed as people waited to be assigned to different areas.
Buses were organised to transport these volunteers.
Today, about 12,500 people joined in on the huge clean-up. (In Brisbane. There’s no such information on the other flood areas, though I am sure they are working just as hard to clean everything.)
While the flood stories no longer fill the news, people are still being evacuated from their Victorian homes. People are still waiting for rivers to peak and the cleanup to begin... but the media is moving on.
Something Australians can depend on...
when the media has gone
and the politicians have left...
their fellow Aussies will step up.
My respect goes to those who are helping their friends... helping their neighbours... helping strangers.
They’re the real story.
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