Lightning Pole

Lightning Pole,
originally uploaded by BrisbaneBryce.

Brisbane and Southeast Queensland have experienced three massive storms in the past week. Each involved thunder, lightning, hail, and torrential rains. Two nights ago, we had a storm that dropped 250mm (that's 10 inches) of rain in less than 6 hours. There has been widespread flooding, major roads out, cars and trucks underwater, rescues, downed trees, mud, and lots and lots of water. Sadly, two people have died. One was swept away into a storm drain by what is essentially a flash flood. The other person was also swept away...she was in a car that was overtaken by fast running and rising flood waters; her car was carried away, as was she.

I've driven through some heavy rains here in Australia, and it can be fierce. These were some of the biggest tropical storms that I've experienced while I've been here. I respect the thunderstorms in Australia. I've been hiking a few times and heard thunder off in the distance. Every single time, I've high-tailed it back to the Landie or home. A couple of times I haven't made it back in time before the rain hit, and I can tell you, it was scarey. The lightning is much more intense than I remember ever experiencing in North America, and that's the biggest worry when exposed outside.

But, the more common worry, and the one that can really be more deadly, is flash flooding. It's been said that Australia is a drought broken by the occasional flood. So true. The land is usually so dry and so hard, and storms so intense, the water generally has no place to go except the low points in the land and the flood plains. I've been driving in or after the storms, and had to ford fast-running streams in places I've never seen water before. Most such places in the roadways are well-known, and the Aussies put depth markers in them. That way, if you've coming along to a pool of stagnant or running water where there used to be a road, you can estimate how deep the road bed is, and determine if you're vehicle can get across.

Of course, there's more to it than that. You actually have to get out of the vehicle and wade through the stuff, if you need to get across, to find out if there are any hidden logs or what not. Which is not something you'd usually do except in an emergency or when you really, really had to. The reason you have to check for logs is because it's a bear to be surprised by running into a tree trunk when you're traversing a running stream.

So, that's one of the reasons I have a Land Rover. The thing has very high clearance, excellent maneuverability, and it weighs close to 2 metric tons, dry. It can easily ford nearly a meter of water, and if I were to put on a snorkel, I could ford water almost up to the top of the engine if I had to. And then, I could wash out the interior with a hose :)

Anyway, I'm all safe and sound, and the house made it through with no problem. There was a bit of water running through the ground level for a little while, but I don't have anything valuable down there, nor electrical, for this very reason.

One of my friends took this picture of lightning. The most recent storm had a lot of cloud to cloud lightning, and not so much cloud to ground. And most of the lightning didn't touch down in nearby. But the previous storm was absolutely amazing...a lot of ground strikes, and several of them were within a kilometer or so...nearly immediate light to thunder, and really, really loud cracks.

Anyway, tropical storms are to be respected. That's for sure. I was very happy to experience this set while safe and sound in my house. Fortunately, no damage, we weren't without power for very long, and no major problems in my neighborhood. But this was the worst series of storms since the '70s, I'm told, when, among other things, the Brisbane River crested at 12 meters above flood level...that's 36 feet! I don't think we're bound for anything that dramatic, but we're still all keeping an eye on the weather forecast.