Mud
So I feel for Japan.
My home town, in January went through some of the worst flooding it has had for 35 years.
In no way am I comparing what Brisbane experienced to what Japan is going through now, but I can sympathise in some small way. while their houses got washed away by a wall of water, ours got filled up slowly over the course of 24hrs or so. in the end though… All that is left is the mud.
Here’s a few shots of around the area I live from back in January
This is my brother’s next door neighbor. the day before the waters rose to his second floor
you can see where the water came up to on the wall and the plants with the mud line
this is a major highway
underneath this, is a picnic area and playground. the trees that you can see the tops of are at least 15m high
it’s the sludgy, stinky mud that gets you in the end… given that the sewerage treatment plant broke down, we were literally up shit creek
Many many people volunteered even if they weren’t affected. We had one person who owned a bobcat come around to help clear out rubble. he had his small son in his lap as he operated the machine. At one point he grabbed a mattress that was lying on the curb in the jaws of his bobcat’s bucket and literally wiped the mud off the street with the mattress 
Those that could not physically lift heavy things made food for those who could, and when we had finished helping out close relatives everyone went to help neighbors. the community spirit was surpurb.
whole suburbs looked like this during the week or so afterwards
My brother took loosing his $30,000 grand piano quite well considering
This last one is courtesy of birdiecanfly (my sister in law) on flickr.com:
So yes, this is my little corner of the world. it’s been a busy year. I sincerely hope those in Japan recover quickly and well. It will take many years, but let it be as quick as it can be. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Japan.
