The last few days, I have felt very distracted and lacked concentration with respect for business. The city I love and have lived in all my life has been hit by a sheer volume of water and it seems so surreal.

I was only 1 when the 1974 floods hit Brisbane and I remember the stories my grandparents and parents told me about the flood and the photos in my grandparent's photo album. They lived in Corinda, close to Oxley Creek, not far from the Rocklea markets and their album contained so many photos of houses under water. Their house luckily, only had the water lapping at their floorboards. But I think of those photos and of today's devastation to those whose homes are under water and have a feeling of helplessness.

We are so lucky this time around as the rain has cleared. In the 1974 floods the house we are now living in, had water lapping at the back door due to the large amount of rain. So I am so thankful that we have had clear skies. For us the clear skies spared us but for many others this was not the case.

Today I had to take a trip to see for myself, what nature can do to a city. Just looking at the Brisbane river from close to the city - the magnitude was unbelievable. I did not venture near any of the flooded suburbs but have sat and watched on TV the devastation others are experiencing. I find the TV coverage disturbing and upsetting but for some reason I am drawn to it.

As a teacher, seeing the schools under water was upsetting (I know for the older kids, it probably won't be upsetting, extra holidays for them - lol). All the resources, teachers belongings, library books etc all destroyed in a matter of hours. They have so much work ahead of them. So much goes into a school and planning for a class, that I feel for them in the cleanup of the weeks and months to come. All the young children so excited to start school will now have to wait and will eventually start school but amid changes that the flood has brought.

My heart goes out to all of those families who have been touched by the floodwaters. As the water recedes there will be so much devastation and so much work to be done. All we can do it put our hands up to help and support our neighbours in need.

Sorry for the off topic blog but I think I needed to get it out.

Take care Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba, and the Lockyer Valley.