Brisbane Flood - BBQ Thread Sunday (Day 2)

[The Monty]

Just think of the scenes above but for the hour and a half we drove this morning, thats what it looked like in every single suburb, down every side street was a pile of rubbish, dirt and debris on every road, people walking along with a shovel and a backpack to fix it.
I was very overwhelmed by the amount of volunteers on the street, it was just so amazing.

[XR5T_Brissy]

Guys, I just want to thank all of you who chipped in their hard earned dollars to make this charitable event not only happen, but make it a complete success. You are a credit to your familes, friends, and your communities. You should all be very proud of yourselves for pulling this together. I will admit I was close to tears at one point when we turned the corner in the ute and all the houses were still under thick, stinking, putrid mud. Both myself and DJ just went quiet, nothing could be said, our jaws dropped. It looked like hiroshima except this wasnt caused by a bomb! Those poor poor people, their entire lives are all but rubble on the streets. The only thing that stopped me from breaking down was the smiles on the volunteers faces, and that great aussie ethos of "she'll be right mate" People helping people when we need each other most. Thats what makes this country great. Well done again guys, it was great to meet you, and I hope we can catch up again soon.
PS I am going back tomorrow if anyone wants to join in and help? Let me know.

[XRGhia]

well done guys....


the amount of work put in by everyone is of phenonimal size... you guys were well appreciated by the end of the day, even i can say that from these stories...

[Scott]

Originally Posted by XR5T_Brissy

PS I am going back tomorrow if anyone wants to join in and help? Let me know.

Hey mate, great work today - thanks for your solid efforts in making our contribution count.

I will be on the job sourcing Pads/Tampons, more water/ice and will see what can be done with sugar fixes. At the end of the day every other person wanted coke, cupcakes, chocolate - anything with lots of sugar in it.

It should be noted that anyone seeking to go out tomorrow should get in touch with XR5T-Brissy as he is planning work in a badly affected area that will be closed down by the Army at 7:30am.

Strong Ave, Strickland Terrace and Long St in Graceville isn't it Damo?

This was an area with a high concentration of properties, wheelie bins hanging from the power lines and peoples lives in tatters.

Sam_Boss260 has also been working his backside off in the same area and would be another good contact if people want to know where to go, or what to expect.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Well ive just finished washing the ute and trailer.. what a job!! only ended up with one scratch on the ute which was a good effort considering the amount of people it drove past on the streets with shovels etc.

Thanks to Scott ^^ for making this happen. Mate if you hadn't have come up with the idea in the first place it wouldn't have happened! Well done!

Also thanks to smacXR8 (Scott) for lending us his big red eski!!

Great day!!

[ms33]

Originally Posted by Scott

Hey Blokes, top effort today. It was a drop in the ocean really but it all counts.

The day started pretty slowly, Mt Ommaney & Jindalee (our first targets) really didn't appear to need our help. After a short deliberation it was decided to head down to Ipswich and see what we could do there. That wasn't going to well either as none of us new the affected areas and finding people in a suitable level of need was hard.

I called 4BC and spoke to the Ian Maurice on air, within a couple of minutes we got a call from the radio station telling us we were needed at Graceville Memorial Park in Chelmer - we went straight back there, only a suburb or two from where we started .

We quickly found a spot to setup and got to work, the radio station called me several times through the day to check in which proved to me that they really are doing their bit in all of this too.

Today, we used just short of 950 slices of bread - each with a sausage in it.... some lucky punters got a steak in theirs. I would say that for every 10 sangas that went, a drink went with it from the main setup. A huge number of people just took a drink with no food. I really don't know how many cupcakes, bags of chips, biscuits etc went, but there were HUNDREDS.

The blokes pulling the eskys and running with the ute would have handed out hundreds and hundreds more drinks.

We fed residents, volunteers, army, nave, police, energex, bus drivers, tradies, kids, the elderly, new comers to Australia - the whole gambit.

People were streaming to us with more supplies all day, if we said we needed more water - it came by the ute load. If we said ice, coke or whatever - it came by the bootload. We became a bit of a landmark in the area we were in and people would just turn up with whatever they thought we could use. From blankets to sandwiches they came all day.

Toward the end of the day, even the coaches were pulling up en'route to grab a drink!

Right at the end of the day, we had about 250 slices of bread, maybe a couple of hundred bottles of water (mostly bigger ones by then), I would guess 30-40kg of meat and a heap of ice left over (along with litres of sauce etc). The blokes met a woman who was running truck loads of supplies to an area down the road that had been hit very hard (visualise wheelie bins hanging from the powerlines) and we were able to set that area up, including the 90 units at the lowest point, with enough food & water to get them through tomorrow.

There are so many stories that I have now, and dozens more that our fantastic members have to share that if we told them all we'd be here forever.

Special thanks to:

DASH GT;
XR5T_Brissy;
MS33 & partner (sorry Lee, I worked with her most of the weekend and still keep forgetting her name!)
The Monty
DJM83
Col (who is a mate of mine, poor bugger could not leave the BBQ plate all day!)

Seriously good effort guys, thank you.

Well said mate, summed today up perfectly!
Awesome effort today guys!!
Ive just got home , im sore all over and severley sunburnt but would do it again tomorrow if i didnt have to go to work. I am up for anything next weekend however.

The amount of people donating items to us today was unbelievable, We were knocking back food as we just didnt have anywhere to keep it, Having so many people saying how professional our setup was and how gratefull they were for our catering was so rewarding.

Below is some photos ive taken, as already stated it was inappropriate to sit there taking photos of people in hard times so i only got photos of one street after we dropped of the remainder of our supplies to the residents.(sorry for the size of them)

Our barbecue and stock


A satisfied volunteer

This photo is of a Helen and Harry. They were the first of many people that donated extra supplies for us. They actually brought a few cartons of water and noticed we didnt have much softdrinks left so 20mins later they were back with many cartons of drink and ice to refill our eskies.

One of the streets in Graceville

[XR5T_Brissy]

Scott, thanks not needed mate. Like I wrote on that survey, the question was "what made you feel compelled to help today" I answered "Because people were in trouble and need our help" It's really that simple isnt it
Thanks to you mate for pulling it all together, just for that you can ride in the XR5T any day ha ha
Just a note on what you wrote in the previous post mate, yep, I am going back into a really badly hit area to help out. I am giving up my days off to help those that need it most. It would be great if any others would like to come with me. I know its short notice but let me know via this thread or PM. We need to meet prior to 7.30am at either Strong Ave, Strickland Terrace or Long St in Graceville, however the Graceville Memorial Park on Oxley Av would be a good meeting point, so I might wait there at 7am. You cant miss my car, blue with white OTT stripes. Hope to see you there

[Road Games]

Great work team sounds like today was EPIC ...

[Sam_Boss260]

Great work yet again guys.

Yes, the Graceville / Chelmer area was hit pretty badly. The first 2 houses we cleaned up in Chelmer Ave, the water was about 1m to 1.2m inside.

The next street we did was Harte St.... my god. In some parts of that street the water got to 3m.

I've got some shots from my iPhone and will load up shortly.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by ms33

Ive just got home , im sore all over and severley sunburnt but would do it again tomorrow if i didnt have to go to work. I am up for anything next weekend however.

Hey Luke, another bloody big day for you and your partner - well done on a very solid effort mate. You must be up for some new shoes by now yeah?

Both of your efforts went a long way in helping people today and for you both to drive down from the Sunny Coast TWICE I can only sing your praises.

Onya guys

[b2tf]

Great work.

One of the things that sticks out to me is that no matter how many times I look at various pictures of the state of things up there now, it just doesnt actually 'sink in' until you see it for yourself. It really is amazing what the world can do sometimes.

[Sam_Boss260]

Just to show the devastation and how bad it really is, here are some shots from Friday, before the army came in and the truckloads of volunteers.

Us driving into Harte St....







Each house had this sort of pile...


You can see that even on Friday people were stripping the insides already. Mind you, alot of these houses are under 1-2 years old so they are very new.


This was us walking back to the first house. The guy in the yellow shirt was the owner of the first house we cleaned up. We did his, and he took us to other people he knew. That is guts, your house is gone but you can still help others. Top bloke he was.


The mud was the real problem. Anywhere from 2 inches in one street, to about 4 - 5 inches in others. And it was slippery as all hell.

[Sam_Boss260]

Sorry about the side on pics... they were facing the right way up on my PC, but they were taken with iPhone

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by Sam_Boss260

The mud was the real problem. Anywhere from 2 inches in one street, to about 4 - 5 inches in others. And it was slippery as all hell.

Tell us about the mud.. I cannot believe how slippery it was, we nearly lost the XR6 and the BBF trailer yesturday because I simply could not steer it on the mud!!

Anyone in brisbane whos driving around in the next lot of rain we get, please drive VERY carefully, this mud will catch alot of people out.

[ms33]

Originally Posted by Scott

Hey Lee, another bloody big day for you and your partner - well done on a very solid effort mate. You must be up for some new shoes by now yeah?

Both of your efforts went a long way in helping people today and for you both to drive down from the Sunny Coast TWICE I can only sing your praises.

Onya guys

was more then happy to mate, as said Well done to everyone who turned up and made this day happen and yourself on organising such an excellent event. Your mate Col did an awesome effort sitting infront of that Barbecue for over five hours straight!

[XR5T_Brissy]

Yeah ol mate Col, that is instant BBQ legend status I reckon. Super huge effort

[davocol]

Top effort guys, sincere contribution and by the looks of it very appreciated. I work for a big retailer and after seeing the photos of the inside of one our stores and the damage it has done to our equipment and stock can online imagine what an entire neighborhood looks like. Truly top effort.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by XR5T_Brissy

Yeah ol mate Col, that is instant BBQ legend status I reckon. Super huge effort

Yeah, he's a champ alright . Anytime he comes over for a barbie at my place, he cooks. But whenever I go to his for one he cooks as well so I guess we have a system that works

[FDG 220]

XR5T - what you taking with you tommoz? Should be able to make it in tommorrow after helping out here last couple days in Ipswich

[dave351cid]

wow. big result today by the sound of it. you guys are real champions and just reading these threads give me a little lump in my throat. kind of feel a bit guilty that i wasnt there to help out.

keep up the great work guys. great respect is coming your way.

[Scott]

Originally Posted by The Monty

Well Im home now, kind of need a shower.....

Top job today Josh, all that meat you brought with you went a looooooong way mate.

[turboxf]

What a great job by all the helpers on sat & sun, those pics tell the story alright

The volunteers that are cleaning the areas up all over QUENSLAND should feel proud of what there doing for others.

But we also have VOLTURES prtending there tradies & bank people what a blight on society these so called human beings are, maybe with a threat of throwing them in the sludge for punishment?

Here in VICTORIA we are getting like queensland & nsw with our one in a hundred year floods affecting plenty of towns & comunnities.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2...16/3113936.htm

[XR5T_Brissy]

Hi tickxr, Sorry, I only just got your message on the thread.
I am just taking a shovel and a broom, today is all about the clean up of some peoples house. Can you make it?
I have PM'd you my number
Cheers
Damo
PS I will wait at Graceville memorial park till at 7am, Oxley Av, Graceville

[SLO AU XR8]

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Tell us about the mud.. I cannot believe how slippery it was, we nearly lost the XR6 and the BBF trailer yesturday because I simply could not steer it on the mud!!

Anyone in brisbane whos driving around in the next lot of rain we get, please drive VERY carefully, this mud will catch alot of people out.

That was bad! geckoGT had enough trouble trying to get the F6 out, even without touching the accelerator. Lucky all the cars got out safely!

[DBourne]

Just want to say that I am floored with how generous you blokes are.

Massive kudos to all of you, you are what makes this country great and makes me proud to be an Australian. World needs more of you all!

[Spudz27]

Awesome effort. Great photo's. It is great to see some people out and about willing to donate thier time and money for nothing in return except the satisfaction they have helped. You guys definitely made some peoples lives a little happier this weekend.

[Racecraft]

i just had to knock today on the head... the heat, the mud/dirt and broom shoulders meant I just couldn't go on any longer....2 days of very hard yakka and todays heat was just too much for my out of shape body :(

The spirit has been exceptional.

My only hope is the dollars roll in (or people can find some extra coin) to replace the volume of gear that is now gone....

I've bought 3 fridges, found two cheap washing machines for some of my drivers that lost the lot :(

[The Monty]

Im just about rock bottom too Tibbo. I work 6 days, and work crap hours, and doing this on the day I usually have off has seen me hit a brick wall this arvo.
Was it worth it though, of course, and I would love to do it again. Not for the thanks or anything, just too know I helped as much as I could to try and make these guys lives just that little bit easier.

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by The Monty

Im just about rock bottom too Tibbo. I work 6 days, and work crap hours, and doing this on the day I usually have off has seen me hit a brick wall this arvo.
Was it worth it though, of course, and I would love to do it again. Not for the thanks or anything, just too know I helped as much as I could to try and make these guys lives just that little bit easier.

Tell me about it.. While I did no physical work just being out in the heat and not having a day off in the last 8 days has smashed me!!

Mate can we buy those sausages you brought over the counter?? Where do you work, they were reaaaaal good!

[Racecraft]

I've had two beers to pat myself on the back and recover... I am keen to go again,, until I stand up and parts of my body that do not see alot of work tell me otherwise...I'd be a deckchair on a submarine. Useless!...
I hope after a few more ales, a radox bath later I don't wake up stiff as a board tomorrow. So many people could still use a hand


I'll take my hat off to those that put in a full day today... it is crazy hot and summer is finally here....