Today I worked at a friend's house on the corner of Riverview St and Gray St. Their house stands on stilts about 5 feet off the ground. There was nearly 2 feet of water that went through their house. We worked all day scouring, scrubbing and mopping mud from the floor and walls of their house, and we still aren't done. I will go back there tomorrow to help them with the efforts so they can hopefully move back in within a week. It is absolutely incredible how much mud and muck there is everywhere in that area. Actually, it's sad really. I helped them drain the pool of the murky mud water. Granted, a pump did most of the work except for about the 15 buckets at the end that we did by hand. There were numerous fish and crawfish dead and alive. Let's just say that after a hard days work like that, I am completely exhausted. Or, as the Aussies would say, I'm buggered.
Throughout the day, we had complete strangers come to the house to offer their help. One lady brought freshly baked cookies. Another guy helped remove all of the wet carpet and padding from the front yard. We even had a guy come by offering to pressure wash the house with the water tank he had on the back of his truck. The fire department stopped by, as well as some people from the city council to give us info about where to go for cleaning supplies and insurance info. This out pour of help just shows the generous and resilient spirit of the Australian people.
I didn't take any pictures today because I don't think it is right to publicize someone else's misfortune. However, here is a link from the paper that shows updated photos. Here is a picture that I took the other day.
Emerald is famous for a huge Vincent van Gogh picture that is in the center of the town's park.
Can you see where the van Gogh is in this photo? Kinda puts it all into perspective, huh?
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