I just received an update from Rob, the author of the email in my last post about flooding in Australia. Here's what he had to say and the photo he sent.

A combination of heavy rain and king tides has caused low level flooding around Brisbane and today I heard of small towns only 30 miles out of Brisbane are cut off by floods.

Some towns are going though their 4th and 5th flood in a month – the water recedes and then they get another 2 or 3 inches of rain in a day.

Second – as you know, Aussies always look for the funny side of disasters – a cow staggered ashore at a resort island on the Barrier Reef, 8 miles off the coast of Rockhampton after being flushed down a river and out into the Coral Sea. True story.

Regards
Rob

The hotel where we stayed during the 2009 Brisbane Writers Festival is directly behind the photographer. (Thank you to my Aussie friends for explaining the geography.)

Here's the website again for the Australian Red Cross with information on how you can help.