[FONT="]Off Topic - but pertinent. Not sure where else to post this. Just wanted to say how horrified and sorry I am about all of the flooding that is happening in Australia! For any of our Australian members/readers we have a thread here at WebSleuths. [/FONT]
Scores missing in tsunami-like flood in Australia - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community
:wave:
Oh thank you Reannan. Yes, it's tough times in Australia! Thanks for adding the link to the thread.
Thought I'd provide the following to keep this in perspective with regard to Zahra, and to give some further background information on her.
As you undoubtedly know, she was born in Wagga Wagga in New South Wales (NSW) and before moving to the US lived in Giru in Queensland (QLD). Here are maps to give you an idea of the locations:
Note the white/blue cross-hairs:
Wagga Wagga
http://www.whereis.com/nsw/wagga-wagga#session=MTg=
Giru
http://www.whereis.com/qld/giru#session=NTY4
Giru is in the sugar cane region of northern QLD, and has tropical, hot weather and generally high rainfall. It's not experiencing floods to my knowledge. The areas subject to flooding are from the Toowoomba region of QLD, which lies inland approx 120km from Brisbane, to the state's capital city of Brisbane which is experiencing the evacuations of many suburbs. So far 12 deaths but over 50 are missing. The estimate is it will take 2 years and billions of dollars to repair the damage.
Giru is approx 1300 km (800+ miles) north of Brisbane - ie approx 15 hours drive.
I'm located in Melbourne, which is in the southernmost state on the mainland's eastern seaboard. We're mostly accustomed to drought and bushfires in recent years, yet are currently experiencing huge rainfall ... but nothing on the scale of the north (Melbourne is 1700 km south of Brisbane 1056 miles, over 20 hours drive). Melbourne is where the
Black Saturday bushfires wreaked havoc in February 2009. The fires burned over 4,500 km² (450,000 hectares, 1.1 million acres). We had 173 deaths and over 3,500 buildings and houses were lost. We still haven't recovered from the fires, and at present the estimates for repair are $1.5 billion and counting. Ironically to us Victorians the rain is welcome as it means we don't need to worry about bushfires!
But it will all be OK. We know it's part of the harsh but amazing life in Australia. To help you understand this, here is one of Australia's most loved and famous poems. It brings a smile to the faces and hearts of all Aussies and maybe it can help you understand what Australia would have meant to Zahra.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me!
(verse 2 of "
My Country" by
Dorothea Mackellar)
Take care!