Floodwaters rising

I can hardly keep my eyes open--it's past my bedtime--but I keep thinking about the residents of Brisbane and Queensland, who are in the midst of terrible and terrifying flooding right now. Many of y'all who read this blog aren't from Australia, so in case you don't know, Queensland is the state north of us (we live in New South Wales), and Brisbane is its capital. Different parts of the state have been having flooding since before Christmas, (that link will give you a timeline) but things seemed to peak yesterday. Floodwaters--the press is calling it an "inland tsunami" raged through a small town and literally wiped out the main street. We're talking an 8 meter high wall of water. The video footage of this is unbelievable. It looks like a movie scene.

Anyway, today, the river that runs through Brisbane began to rise to dangerous levels and the downtown area emptied completely--all the office workers, visitors, and others fleeing. Throughout the afternoon today, I read the Facebook status updates of a friend of mine. Her husband was trying to get home from his office in the city. He was hoping to catch a bus home, and every bus that came by was jam-packed with people doing the same thing. I watched her updates as the time ticked on, and finally he was able to get a spot on an express bus. They are all fine and safe at home, but I know that many others aren't. The last report I read said that nearly 70 people are missing and 10 have died.

If you live here in Australia, you know all this. And if you live elsewhere and watch lots of TV news, you might know all this, too. But if you didn't, I wanted to let you know what's going on. To pray for those that are missing loved ones or who have lost family members, and to pray for the many, many who have had to flee their homes. There's a verse in Isaiah that I keep thinking of: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...". Lord, let it be so.

Thanks, y'all. xoxo