Happy Australia Day!

[Mumma.of.two]

Happy Australia Day to all my fellow Aussies out there! Enjoy your long weekend and if you're in north QLD stay safe!

 

[butterfly_koi]

I have never heard of Australia day (sorry!)
How and why is it celebrated?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

It commemorates the first fleet landing in Port Jackson, Sydney NSW in 1788. It's a national holiday on 26th January to celebrate our country. Usually it's celebrated with a BBQ/meal and outside activities with family and friends. This year there was a cyclone (hurricane but in the Southern Hemisphere) in North Queensland. We are experiencing extreme rainfall and gusts of wind where I am in SE QLD. We have been confined to the house for two days now. Many towns have been evacuated in my state and there are flood warnings and road closures everywhere.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

It commemorates the first fleet landing in Port Jackson, Sydney NSW in 1788. It's a national holiday on 26th January to celebrate our country. Usually it's celebrated with a BBQ/meal and outside activities with family and friends. This year there was a cyclone (hurricane but in the Southern Hemisphere) in North Queensland. We are experiencing extreme rainfall and gusts of wind where I am in SE QLD. We have been confined to the house for two days now. Many towns have been evacuated in my state and there are flood warnings and road closures everywhere.

That sounds horrible

Stay safe and I hope ya enjoyed the holiday

 

[Mumma.of.two]

[FONT=.Helvetica NeueUI]Not the funest way to spend the long weekend! We are pretty safe here. Toowoomba is on top of a mountain range. Doesn't usually flood here other than storm drains overflowing. About this time two years ago we had a flash flood downtown. Killed two people in town when they got washed away. It was like an inland tsunami down the range. Was like a war zone. Whole towns wiped out. Then it flowed down river and flooded our state capital, Brisbane. We are all hoping this weekend its not a repeat. They are predicting floods in Brisbane this time but not as bad. [/FONT]

 

[butterfly_koi]

Oh my goodness that's awful! I hope everyone stays safe and dry. And I agree, its not a fun way to spend the weekend. We always manage to get rained out on the 4th of July here, which totally bites.

 

[Slade]

Stay safe and enjoy your holiday. Here in NJ we're still recovering from Sandy, so we know not to ignore Mother Nature.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Thanks guys. I think the worst of it for us is over. The winds died right down and the rains not as heavy as it has been for the last two days. I'm just glad we don't live near the coastline. Huge swells and abnormally large tides, flash flooding and there were even twisters!

 

[butterfly_koi]

Well how is the weather going down there? We had some horrible rain here in Missouri, tornado sirens were going off etc. No sightings and nothing damaged just some strong wind and rain.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Sounds horrible. Must be stressful living in fear of tornados. It stopped raining here two days ago and everything's drying out well but there is still major flooding all over the state. Bundaberg is copping the worst of it. They are about 6 hours north of where I am.

 

[butterfly_koi]

It's not to bad, most storms go around us we just get the rain and such.
Glad everything is alright in your area still a sucky way to spend your holiday weekend though