Cyclone Debbie

I’m sitting here in the aftermath of Cyclone Debbie as she heads further South towards Brisbane to cause further destruction. We were lucky, we were not in her direct path, yet she has still caused flooding, trees over, power outages, the usual things that come with a bad tempered storm.
The last cyclone that we went through was different to this one – this time we weren’t expecting what we got dealt overnight and this morning. In the previous cyclone we were the target so we were well prepared and things were in place, we had shopped for fresh drinking water, we had charged devices, filled up our petrol tanks and tied down appropriate outdoor furniture and equipment. This time we were not the target, we were not ready!
Early this morning the state government announced that schools would be closed, we did not quite reach this catchment area so I trolled social media to find out if my children were going to school today –we had already decided that teenage boy would stay home as it was further for me drive in comprising conditions. I waited to see about the other school – as I said, our town was not prepared and a decision was not yet made, so off we went only to be turned around when we got there – not that the children were complaining!
From what I can see on social media we were lucky, our town hasn’t seem to suffered too much structural damage, however many places are flooded, including roads, shopping complexes and our dam is overflowing into our already swollen river. In the thick of this storm I had to go out and get sandbags as I was not prepared, of course the road was flooded and I couldn’t get through; I was not prepared and I nearly put my family and home in danger. I was lucky though this time, the rain eased as I was driving home and the drain was able to cope with the excess water.
To all those who have begun the clean-up process from Cyclone Debbie, and all those who are yet to experience her, we wish you all the best and we hope that you can stay strong. Our thoughts are with you,
The Mother’s Way.